Buffalo officers charged in assault on 75-year-old protester

BUFFALO, N.Y.— Two Buffalo police officers were charged with assault Saturday, after a video showed them shoving a 75year-old protester in recent demonstrations over the death of George Floyd. Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalskipleaded not guilty to second-degree assault. They were released without bail.

McCabe, 32, and Torgalski, 39,

“crossed a line” when they shoved the man down hard enough for him to fall backward and hit his head on the sidewalk, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference, calling the victim “a harmless 75-year-old man.”

The officers had been suspended without pay Friday after a news crew captured the confrontation the night before.

If convicted of the felony assault charge, they face up to seven years in prison.

McCabe’s lawyer, Tom Burton, said after the arraignment that prosecutors didn’t have any grounds to bring felony charges. He said his client is a decorated military veteran with a clean record as a police officer.

“Nobody started out their day intending to hurt this fellow,” Burton said. He added that if the victim had followed commands to back off, “none of this would have happened.”

Dozens of Buffalo police officers who were angered over their fellow officers’ suspensions stepped down from the department’s crowd control unit Friday. The resigning officers did not leave their jobs altogether.

A crowd of off-duty officers, firefighters and others gathered on Saturday outside the courthouse in a show of support for the accused officers and cheered when they were released.

“It was tremendous, tremendous to see,” John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, told WIVB-TV.

“I just think it’s a strong indication of the outrage basically over this travesty.”