A cancer sufferer who was shoved to the ground by an aggressive cop in Buffalo has denied connections with Antifa after President Donald Trump tweeted the conspiracy theory online.
President Trump claimed 75-year-old Martin Gugino, from Amherst, Massachusetts, seen on video getting shoved to the ground by Buffalo police during a Black Lives Matter protest fell ‘harder than he was pushed’ and had connections to Antifa.
Trump tweeted Tuesday morning: ‘Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur. 75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN.’
Kelly Zarcone, attorney for Mr Gugino told TMZ that President Trump is wrong to draw links between her client and the radical left group, adding that Mr Gugino had been seriously injured.
Zarcone said: ‘Martin is out of ICU but still hospitalized and truly needs to rest. Martin has always been a peaceful protester because he cares about today’s society.’
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An elderly man was seen approaching Buffalo police officers in riot gear outside of City Hall on Thursday
She added: ‘[Mr Gugino] is also a typical Western New Yorker who loves his family. No one from law enforcement has even suggested anything otherwise, so we are at a loss to understand why the President of the United States would make such dark, dangerous, and untrue accusations against him.’
Trump’s tweet referenced a report on the right wing One America News Network with close-up, slowed footage of the incident while voice-over from a correspondent touts possible connections to Antifa, a group Trump has said wants to label as domestic terrorist organization.
The report claims that the incident ‘could be the result of a false flag provocation by far left group Antifa.’
It cites information that appeared on the Conservative Treehouse blog which identifies Mr Gugino as a ‘well-known activist.’
President Trump tweeted that 75-year old Martin Gugino ‘fell harder than was pushed’
The president added that he agreed with at least part of what was put forward by the broadcast on a network he regularly touts. ‘I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?’ Trump asked.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ripped the president Tuesday for issuing a ‘reckless, irresponsible, mean, crude if there was ever a reprehensible, dumb comment.’
‘And from the president of the United States at this moment of anguish and anger. He pours gasoline on the fire. If there was ever, if he ever feels a moment of decency, he should apologize fr that tweet,’ Cuomo added.
He called it ‘wholly unacceptable’ and said there was ‘Not a piece of proof. Personally disparaging when the man is still in the hospital. Show some decency, some humanity,’ he continued.
Trump’s tweet – again siding with police after repeatedly calling for ‘law and order’ amid protests over the death of George Floyd – comes despite advisors inside and outside the White House counseling him to address racial discrimination.
Martin Gugino, a longtime peace activist from Amherst, had been at a protest at Niagara Square near Buffalo City Hall when he was pushed. He hit his head on the ground causing it to bleed
The OANN correspondent identifies himself as Kristian Rouz, who has been revealed to simultaneously be working for Kremlin-backed Sputnik news. The Daily Beast previously reported that Rouz was born in Siberia, graduated from Novosibirsk State University, and moved to the U.S. in 2017.
Mr Gugino texted USA Today after being asked about Trump’s tweet. ‘No comment other than Black lives matter. Just out of the ICU. Should recover eventually. Thx,’ he wrote.
Earlier, Ms Zarcone said: ‘[Mr Gugino] has acknowledged and sincerely appreciates the tremendous outpouring of support he has received nationwide. Martin and his family continue to request privacy as they focus on Martin’s health and recovery,’ lawyer Kelly Zarcone said, WGRZ reported.
Rival former Vice President Joe Biden pounced on President Trump for the tweet Tuesday afternoon.
‘My Dad used to say there’s no greater sin than the abuse of power. Whether it’s an officer bloodying a peaceful protester or a President defending him with a conspiracy theory he saw on TV. I’m a Catholic – just like Martin,’ Biden said.
‘Our faith says that we can’t accept either,’ he added.
Two police officers who shoved him last week in an incident captured on dramatic video have pleaded not guilty to assault. Video of the incident shows Mr Gugino bleeding on the pavement as a group of officers walk by.
Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe were charged with assault in the second degree Saturday morning.
Aaron Torgalski (left) and Robert McCabe (right) pictured in their mugs. They were each charged with one count of assault in the second degree in a court hearing Saturday morning over the shocking incident that left peaceful protester Martin Gugino in a ‘serious condition’ in hospital
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Gugino was an ‘agitator’, seen here petitioning for the closure of Guantanamo Bay
In this image from video provided by WBFO, a Buffalo police officer appears to shove a man who walked up to police Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Buffalo, N.Y. Video from WBFO shows the man appearing to hit his head on the pavement, with blood leaking out as officers walk past to clear Niagara Square. Buffalo police initially said in a statement that a person ‘was injured when he tripped & fell,’ WIVB-TV reported, but Capt. Jeff Rinaldo later told the TV station that an internal affairs investigation was opened
Former White House press secretary for George W. Bush Ari Fliescher
Jesuit priest and editor at large of America Magazine said ‘Martin Gugino is a peace activist’
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said Mr Gugino was an ‘agitator’ who tried to work up the crowd and had been asked to leave the area ‘numerous’ times.
The OANN report zeroed in on footage of the man waving his phone while coming in close contact with members of a Buffalo police unit during the protest.
All 57 officers on the Buffalo Police Department’s Emergency Response Team resigned from the squad on Friday in support of their colleagues who were suspended over the incident.
The report Trump tweeted says video ‘appear to show Gugino using a police tracker on his phone trying to scan police communications during the protest.’ It describes it as an ‘old trick used by Antifa’ to locate police officers and plan violent activities’ and was ‘supposedly using the communication to black out police technologies.’
The report says mainstream media continued to ‘push the narrative of so-called police brutality.’
Two prominent Republican senators turned down the chance to criticize the president when asked about his tweet. ‘I didn’t see it. You’re telling me about it. I don’t read Twitter. I only write on it, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told CNN. Added Texas Sen. John Cornyn: ‘You know, a lot of this stuff just goes over my head.’
Former Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona did weigh in. ‘This was a 75 year-old-man shoved to the ground, left bleeding from a head wound. Trafficking in conspiracy theories like these is beneath your office, Mr President,’ Flake wrote.
‘Most of us up here would rather not be political commentators on the president’s tweets,’ said South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune, a Senate party leader.
Thune added: ‘Its a serious accusation, which should only be made with facts and evidence. And I haven´t seen any yet.’
There are multiple holes in the conspiracy theory. There have been multiple actual instances of police using force to subdue protesters, which limits the utility of Mr Gugino deliberately falling backward onto his head, putting himself in a situation which could cause brain damage or death.
It cites newly released videos but merely captures days-old videos that have already been published, the Washington Post noted. The video itself contains no evidence Mr Gugino was somehow capturing information with his cell phone. It also fails to substantiate the claim that antifa makes use of the tactic or otherwise connect Mr Gugino to antifa, a favorite target of Trump’s.
Mr Gugino has been undergoing chemo treatments for cancer, Vicki Ross of the Western New York Peace Center and Latin American Solidarity Committee told the Associated Press.
