Two officers from Buffalo police department were suspended late Thursday after footage of them shoving an elderly man spread on social media. The man, who was unarmed and clearly unthreatening to the officers, was seriously injured and taken to hospital. Buffalo police claimed he tripped and fell. Only the footage, which shows the man unconscious and bleeding from a head injury and one ear, forced the truth from them.
BREAKING: Buffalo’s police commissioner orders immediate Internal Affairs investigation into this incident: 2 officers shoving an elderly man, who walked up to them, to the ground. @news4buffalo reports the man suffered a laceration & possible concussion
pic.twitter.com/qbTvXAAPLH— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) June 5, 2020
Buffalo Police Department Captain Jeff Rinaldo told CBS News later Thursday night that "the Police Commissioner has immediately suspended two officers without pay in connection with the incident observed in the video." Rinaldo said the department has launched an internal affairs investigation.
Buffalo Police originally told reporters in a summary of the protest that "one person was injured when he tripped and fell."
This is what they do when they know the cameras are rolling. Think what they do when they know they aren't.