Buffalo, June 5: The two cops of Buffalo police department who were caught on camera pushing a 75-year-old man were suspended in an order issued late-night on Thursday. The policemen, in the video going viral, were seen aggressively shoving the septuagenarian who was part of a demonstration calling for racial justice in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing.
In the cell phone clip, the victim could be seen holding his ground in face of marching troopers of the city's police department. As they neared him, he attempted to speak to two of the police officers. They, however, shoved him down and continued their march along the sidewalk at Niagara Square.
The old man fall directly on the ground and began bleeding from the back of his head. Unmoved, the policemen continued their march to clear the area of demonstrators.
After the video first came online, the police department attempted to suppress the incident by claiming that the protester tripped and fall by himself. The netizens, however, were quick to call out the police as the video showed two cops clearly shoving him to the ground.
"This incident is wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful. I've spoken with Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and we agree that the officers involved should be immediately suspended pending a formal investigation. Police Officers must enforce — NOT ABUSE — the law (sic)," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Twitter.
Watch Video of Cops Pushing 75-Year-Old Man
Twitterati 'Identify' Cop Who Knelt a Day Before
Here's why you don't kneel with cops.
Yesterday. Today. pic.twitter.com/BQMqD3aAYb
— Chad Loder (@chadloder) June 5, 2020
One of the cops in the video, identified as J Losi, was the same policeman who drew praise for kneeling alongside a group of demonstrators on Wednesday to express his empathy with George Floyd.
In the clip which went viral on Thursday, he was identified by netizens as being part of the police team which was marching at the sidewalk at Niagara Square. It was, however, not clear whether he abetted the cops ahead of him of shoving the man or asked them to exercise caution.
Netizens Share Video to Mark Angst Against Losi
This is a pretty remarkable juxtaposition. #Buffalo #WeveSeenEnough #BLMprotest #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/cNOoJCJYkw pic.twitter.com/YAym4MHqpp
— P A T • L E E (@pat_lee) June 5, 2020
Protests across the United States are raging, with some observes comparing he unrest with the agitation that had sparked following the police killing of black rights' activist Jimmie Lee Jackson in 1965. Even as the violence has receded over the past two days, protests have continued in several parts of the country including Washington, New York and Minnesota.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 05, 2020 08:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).