US Police Suspended After Shoving 75yo Protester to Ground

By Staff, Agencies

Two US police officers have been suspended without pay after an incident which left a 75-year-old protester unconscious on the ground with blood coming out of his ears.

Vision shows the man, who was standing on his own and demonstrating with police, being shoved over during a Black Lives Matter protest in Buffalo, New York.

He loses his balance and falls to the pavement, audibly hitting his head.

Police lean over him as he lies motionless and are heard yelling: “He’s bleeding out of his ears.”

The majority of the officers march past after the man falls, though the officer who pushed him with a baton starts to lean over him before he is motioned away by another officer. Someone is heard calling for a medic.

The incident happened shortly after a curfew, imposed to curb protests in the wake of the George Floyd’s death, came into effect.

Local media reported two medics came forward and treated the man, who was taken away in an ambulance.

The executive of Erie Country, where the incident took place, said the victim was in a stable condition in hospital.

“I’ve seen videos of the incident in front of Buffalo’s City Hall in which an older protester appears to have been shoved by police, fell backwards and suffered a serious head injury,” Mark Poloncarz wrote.

“It sickens me. I’ve confirmed he is at ECMC [hospital] in stable condition.”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the officers had been suspended and an investigation was under way.

The mayor said he was “disheartened” by the incident after “days of peaceful protests”.

“I hope to continue to build on the progress we have achieved as we work together to address racial injustice and inequity in the City of Buffalo,” Brown said.

Police initially said a man was injured after tripping and falling, according to local public radio station WBFO.

But after viewing the video, Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood ordered an investigation and suspended the two officers, Brown said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on social media he spoke with Brown and agreed the officers involved should be suspended, pending a formal investigation.

“Police Officers must enforce – NOT ABUSE – the law,” he wrote.

The incident came just days after two officers were run over by an SUV during another protest in Buffalo.