Two Buffalo police officers who pushed an elderly protester to the floor during a 2020 protest of the murder of George Floyd are set to return to the force after an arbitrator cleared the officers from any wrongdoing, The Buffalo News and Associated Press reported.
Arbitrator Jeffrey Selchick made the decision on Friday, concluding that officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski were completely justified in pushing 75-year-old Martin Gugino the day of the protest near the city hall in downtown Buffalo, New York.
The arbitration decision only impacts departmental charges by the Buffalo Police Department for improper use of force and acting in a manner that brought discredit to their department, according to Buffalo News.
A bystander filmed the confrontation between Gugino, who was alone, and a large group of officers in riot gear, as they marched down a sidewalk during the protest on June 4, 2020.
The brief video, which quickly went viral, shows Gugino approaching the two officers and stopping in front of them while holding his phone in one hand and a helmet in the other.
The officers pushed Gugino and continued marching forward, sending Gugino stumbling backward until he fell onto his back and hit his head on the concrete. As Gugino lay on the floor motionless and bleeding, many officers continued to march onward.
According to his analysis, Selchick said that McCabe and Torgalski were justified in using that level of force because Gugino refused to comply with the officer’s orders, the Associated Press reported.
Warning: The videos below contain graphic content.
Gugino was hospitalized for a month with a fractured skull and brain injury after the incident.
Selchick attributed Gugino’s loss of balance to the fact that Gugino was holding things in his hands, his age, or because he was surprised that the officers pushed him, The Buffalo News reports.
“Upon review, there is no evidence to sustain any claim that Respondents (police officers) had any other viable options other than to move Gugino out of the way of their forward movement,” said Selchick, according to the newspaper, The Buffalo News.
Selchick also said the officers’ actions “reflected no intent on their part to do more than to move Gugino away from them.”
Attorney Melissa Wischerath, who represents Gugino, told The Buffalo News that her team is “not aware of any case where this arbitrator has ruled against on-duty police officers.”
She added: “So his ruling here on behalf of the police was not only expected by us but was certainly expected by the union and city who selected and paid him.”
After the incident, McCabe and Torgalski were suspended without pay and initially faced charges of second-degree felony assault. However, in February 2021, a grand jury declined to indict the officers on the charges.
Gugino currently has a federal lawsuit filed against the Buffalo Police Department over his injuries.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia announced that he would be reinstating both officers to duty on Monday.
HuffPost has reached out to the Buffalo police department for further comments.
Police officers across the country exhibited use of excessive force against protesters during the summer of 2020, when demonstrations and civil unrest broke out nationwide to protest the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
In a protest in Detroit in June 2020, a police SUV drove through a crowd of protesters. In New York City, police officers aggressively lashed out at protesters, with one officer shoving a woman and causing her to have a seizure and another driving through a crowd of protesters at high speeds.
