Prosecutors said they were charging two Buffalo police officers with assault, following the spread of a video online showing the officers’ altercation with an elderly man.
The two police officers have pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and were released without bail, according to the Associated Press. Officers Aaron Torglaski and Robert McCabe are reportedly due back in court next month.
The officers had been suspended without pay in advance of the charges.
Near curfew on Thursday, an elderly man approached advancing police officers who shoved him, causing him to fall, hit his head, and bleed, according to video footage shared by WBFO. The elderly man, identified as Martin Gugino, was in serious but stable condition on Saturday, according to ABC.
In response to the mounting scrutiny against the two officers in the widely viewed video, several dozen members of the Buffalo Police Department Emergency Response Team resigned from the crowd control unit on Friday.
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