Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo say they are disturbed and sickened by a video that led to the suspension of two Buffalo police officers without pay. The graphic video, which can be seen here, shows officers shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground, leaving him motionless as a pool of blood forms under his head. "This incident is wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful," Cuomo tweeted Thursday night. He said he spoke to Brown, and they "agree that the officers involved should be immediately suspended pending a formal investigation." Brown said the man, who was shoved around 8pm Thursday after approaching a group of officers during a George Floyd protest, was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, the New York Times reports.
"Police officers must enforce—NOT ABUSE—the law," Cuomo wrote. The video was posted Thursday night by WBFO and had been viewed more than 47 million times by Friday morning. Shortly before the video was posted, a police spokesman claimed the man "tripped and fell" during a "skirmish involving protesters," the Buffalo News reports. Brown described the incident as "disheartening" after "days of peaceful protests and several meetings between myself, police leadership and members of the community." Earlier Thursday, the mayor told a group of around 200 protesters that he had directed the city's police department to formally ban the use of choke holds. (More Buffalo stories.)
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