75-year Old Pushed by Buffalo Police and Slandered by Trump Has Skull Fracture
June 17th 2020
Albuquerque Police mobilize for march protesting the shootings of citizens (Mamyjomarash)
By Witgren (from the Daily Kos community)
CNN is reporting that 75-year old Martin Gugino, the protestor at one of the many protests about the murder of George Floyd and police brutality shoved by Buffalo police officers when he approached them to speak to them during a protest, has suffered a skull fracture and is currently unable to walk. The information on Gugino’s injuries and a message from Gugino were provided by Gugino’s attorney, Kelly Zarcone, in a statement released today:
"I am not at liberty to elaborate at this time other than to confirm that his skull was fractured," Gugino's attorney Kelly Zarcone said. "While he is not able to walk yet, we were able to have a short conversation before he became too tired. He is appreciative of all of the concern about him but he is still focused on the issues rather than himself."
CNN has not been able to speak with Gugino directly, but in her press statement, Zarcone passed along a message from him: "I think it's very unnecessary to focus on me. There are plenty of other things to think about besides me."
Gugino struck his head hard on the concrete sidewalk when he was pushed simultaneously by two officers. Video of the incident showed Gugino staggering back and falling from the force of the shoves, and then blood flowing from his ear onto the sidewalk as he lay on the ground incapacitated or unconscious while the officers that pushed him walked past him.
The two officers involved have been charged with 2nd degree assault. Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
President Trump has hyped an tinfoil-hat-worthy conspiracy theory first floated by OANN that Gugino was an “Antifa” operative carrying a device designed to “blackout” police communications (it was Gugino’s cellphone, Donny). Further conspiracy theories have hyped that Gugino’s fall was intentional, and that he goaded the officers into pushing him so that he could stage the entire injury, including having a “squib” of fake theatrical blood in his ear. If you ever needed evidence that our President and many of his followers are a few cards short of a full deck, this horrible incident and their reaction to it makes that quite clear.
Posted with permission