It is great to see these officers are being held accountable for their actions. The elderly man posed no threat to officers. Second video below shows they were lined up in riot gear facing a crowd of 4 protesters (2 of which were sitting down) when the elderly man walked up to them. Any reasonable person knows that shoving an elderly person is likely to cause them to fall and be injured. The police deserve wide deference on their use of force when facing a threat, but in this case, there was no threat. There was absolutely no reason to use any force to deal with an elderly peace activist in this situation. The officers could have easily taken him into custody without injuring him or simply walked him back to the other protesters and told him to leave. Not only was the use of force unwarranted, the fact the one officer who tried to render aid was stopped and the rest of the unit marched by the man as he lay motionless and bleeding on the ground demonstrates a complete indifference for human life. This situation demonstrates why millions of people are in the streets across our country protesting this week.
Sadly, the Buffalo Police Department has made it clear they have a serious cultural problem as the entire unit involved resigned from their emergency response team assignment and dozens showed up to cheer for the assailants after they were released on bond today. This incident as much as anything else that has happened, identifies the problem we have to address in our country. Race plays a factor in many incidents, but excessive use of force by the police can cross all racial, gender and age boundaries. Charges being brought in this and other cases of excessive force against protesters is a significant step in the right direction.
Sadly, the Buffalo Police Department has made it clear they have a serious cultural problem as the entire unit involved resigned from their emergency response team assignment and dozens showed up to cheer for the assailants after they were released on bond today. This incident as much as anything else that has happened, identifies the problem we have to address in our country. Race plays a factor in many incidents, but excessive use of force by the police can cross all racial, gender and age boundaries. Charges being brought in this and other cases of excessive force against protesters is a significant step in the right direction.
