Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown on Friday said he was told the 75-year-old man who was pushed down by police in a viral video was a “major instigator” and an “agitator.”
“According to what was reported to me, this person was a key and the biggest instigator of people participating in these activities,” Brown told WBEN in a radio interview.
In a graphic video recorded by a WBFO journalist earlier this week, Gugino is seen slowly approaching police until an officer tells him to move and push him.
A person can be heard shouting, “He̵
Brown claimed police asked Gugino to leave the premises several times as law enforcement tried to disperse protesters after 7 p.m. 20:00. curfew.
“He was trying to get people to lose people,” Brown said. “These people were there in the dark. Our concern is, when it gets dark, there is a potential for violence. There have been vandalism, there have been fires set, shops broken up and looted. According to what was reported to me, the individual was a key and the great instigator of people participating in these activities. “
It is unclear if the information Brown cites comes from the police department, who originally claimed Gugino stumbled and fell.
Two Buffalo police officers involved have been suspended and charged with assault.
Following their suspension, 57 officers withdrew from the force’s emergency response team.
