Politics

Drawing On OANN, Trump Suggests Injury Of 75-Year-Old Buffalo Protestor Was A ‘Set-Up’

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday morning that Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old Buffalo, New York man pushed over by police at protests last week, could be an “ANTIFA provocateur.”

“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment,” Trump tweeted. “@OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”

Video of the incident showed Gugino approach on-duty police officers in Niagara Square during George Floyd protests on Thursday. Two officers, Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, made contact with Gugino, who fell and hit his head on the pavement. (RELATED: DOJ Has Evidence Antifa, ‘Foreign Actors’ Among Groups Responsible For Violence At Protests, Barr Says)

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McCabe and Torgalski were originally suspended, prompting their 57-man Emergency Response Unit to resign in protest. The two officers were charged with second-degree assault over the weekend.

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he thinks “there was criminal liability” from what he saw on the video.

“I think what the mayor did and the district attorney did was right, and I applaud them for acting as quickly as they did,” he said. “What we saw was horrendous and disgusting, and I believe, illegal.”