Grand jury declines to charge Buffalo officers seen shoving 75-year-old protester

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Jacob Knutson
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A grand jury declined to indict Buffalo police officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski on felony assault charges for shoving 75-year-old Martin Gugino during a Black Lives Matter protest after the killing of George Floyd in June 2020, AP reports.

Why it matters: Gugino spent around a month in the hospital with a fractured skull and brain injury after the incident. A video of the event drew national attention as thousands of people across the U.S. and around the world held protests against police brutality.

Stay on top of the latest market trends and economic insights with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

Context: Buffalo officers, including McCabe and Torgalski, were attempting to clear the protest in the area for an evening curfew.

What they're saying: Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told the AP that he did not believe the altercation rose to the level of a felony and that the video was the primary evidence in the investigation.

  • “This was not the J.F.K. assassination,” Flynn said, according to AP. “This was not that complex of a case. The video that was taken speaks for itself.”

Of note: State law requires prosecutors to bring charges when a victim is at least 65 and suspected perpetrators are at least 10 years younger.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

Latest Stories

  • Nancy Mace humiliated on MSNBC after being called out for parroting incorrect impeachment claim

    Mace claims Trump was not president when he was impeached, which is false

  • Punctured lung, fractured ribs: some Russian protesters allege police brutality

    Alexei Borisov was diagnosed by doctors as having a punctured lung, three fractured ribs and a broken tooth after he attended a rally on Jan. 31 in support of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny. The 42-year-old truck driver said he was injured by police who detained him after he led a march in central Ryazan, 200 km (120 miles) southeast of Moscow, shouting "Freedom to Alexei Navalny" and slogans against President Vladimir Putin. "I was lying face down on the (police car) floor... They began to hit me, I didn’t even see how many of them there were," Borisov said.

  • Judge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse

    A judge on Thursday refused prosecutors’ request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer. Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger alleged that Kyle Rittenhouse failed to update his address when he moved out of his Antioch apartment in November, amounting to a bail violation. In addition to a new arrest warrant, Binger asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to increase Rittenhouse's bail by $200,000.

  • At least 5 dead in massive crash on icy Texas interstate

    At least five people were killed and dozens injured Thursday in a massive crash involving 75 to 100 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate, police said, as a winter storm dropped freezing rain, sleet and snow on parts of the U.S.

  • Freed Saudi activist had electrodes fixed on her head during phone calls with relatives, family says

    A detained Saudi women’s rights activist had electrodes fixed to her head during phone calls with her family to prevent her speaking of the torture she suffered in prison, her sister said on Thursday after her release. Loujain al-Hathoul was released to her family’s home in Riyadh on Wednesday after 1,001 days in prison on charges related to her activism. Under her probation she is unable to travel, use social media or speak to the media. Her sisters, who live abroad, announced Thursday that Ms al-Hathoul will seek legal redress in Saudi Arabia for torture she said she suffered in detention. “She was tortured and she cannot forget this,” her sister Lina said, during an online press conference. The family have previously claimed Ms al-Hathoul was tortured – which Saudi authorities deny – but gave new details Thursday, including that the threat of electrocution stopped her speaking out. “If I complained about anything they were ready to electrocute me,” Lina said her sister told the family on Wednesday of her early months in detention. “It was months later that we found out about the torture” when Ms al-Hathoul was moved to another prison, Lina said. Ms al-Hathoul has identified one of her torturers as Saud Al Qahtani, a top adviser to the Saudi crown prince until he was sanctioned by the US over his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “He’s the only person that we know the name of who was present at the torture sessions,” Lina said. Mr Qahtani is notorious in Saudi Arabia, sometimes called the “lord of the flies” for his army of Twitter trolls used for attacking dissidents. “Loujain recognised him, he’s a public figure,” said her older sister Alia. Ms al-Hathoul now hopes to use the Saudi justice system to prove she was tortured and seek justice. “The torturers must be sentenced,” Lina said. In December, Ms al-Hathoul was sentenced to nearly six years imprisonment over her activism, which included demanding the right for women to drive and calling for the abolition of Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system. The decades old driving ban was lifted weeks after her arrest, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman eager to claim the credit for the reform. The 35-year-old prince muscled his way to become next in line to the throne in 2015, partly by projecting an image as a dynamic young reformer who could modernise the conservative kingdom. But the sisters believe that any reforms under Mohammed bin Salman are illusory. “MBS is far from being a reformer, he’s an oppressor,” said Lina, referring to him by his initials. “Women’s empowerment is a lie in Saudi Arabia, there are no real reforms,” she said. Lina said she was choosing her words carefully to avoid further negative repercussions for her family still in Saudi Arabia: “There’s really an atmosphere of fear under MBS.” The family believe Ms al-Hathoul’s early release was timed by the Saudi government to impress new US President Joe Biden, who has promised closer scrutiny of his close ally’s human rights record. “Saudi Arabia’s situation is tightly connected with what’s going on in the US,” Alia said. “The Biden administration made clear that they care about human rights.”

  • Lawyer David Schoen leaves impeachment trial to do Fox News interview ‘on Trump’s orders’

    The lawyer went on the cable news channel to call the impeachment managers' argument 'offensive'

  • Warnock Under Investigation for Role in Stacey Abrams’ Voter Registration Org

    Senator Raphael Warnock (D., Ga.) is under investigation for his involvement in the New Georgia Project, a voter registration organization founded by Stacey Abrams, which officials say failed to follow state election deadlines in 2019. The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to launch an investigation into Warnock’s time as chairman of the board for the New Georgia Project in 2019, when officials say the group violated state election rules that require voting registration organizations to submit completed voter application within ten days after they are received from the voter. Officials say the New Georgia Project submitted 1,268 applications to the Gwinnett County elections office after the ten-day deadline in 2019. The board will refer the investigation to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican. The only Democrat on the board, as well as Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, abstained from the vote. Nse Ufot, the CEO of New Georgia Project, pushed back against the claims in a statement, saying the board meeting was “the first time we heard about the allegations regarding NGP’s important voter registration work from 2019.” “We have not received any information on this matter from the Secretary or any other Georgia official,” Ufot said. In December, Raffensperger announced an investigation into the New Georgia Project and other voter registration groups, alleging that they had “sought to register ineligible, out-of-state, or deceased voters.” Warnock resigned from the New Georgia Project on January 28, 2020. Abrams founded the organization in 2014 and later made an unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor, losing by roughly 55,000 votes to Governor Brian Kemp. She claimed that Kemp, who was then- Georgia secretary of state, had won thanks to voter suppression efforts he implemented during his time in office, such as purging voter roles.

  • Lindsey Graham reads Neera Tanden negative Glassdoor reviews from old employees during confirmation hearing

    As Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee to take over as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sat Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, read aloud some reviews her former employees at the Center for American Progress left on Glassdoor over the last few years. Graham noted that Tanden, the president of CAP, referred the committee to the reviews, some of which were far from flattering about the management at the public policy organization, even when the overall experience was considered positive ("Great experience, terrible management," one read.) "All I can say," Graham said after going through some of the negative comments, "is that this is not the unifying pick that I was looking for in this position." CONFIRMATION HEARING: Sen. Lindsey Graham reads negative Glassdoor reviews of Center for American Progress under Neera Tanden after she referred committee to them: “‘1 out of 5 stars. Terrible absolutely horrible.’” pic.twitter.com/u6hKaZWg0W — Forbes (@Forbes) February 10, 2021 Republicans like Graham weren't the only ones to raise concerns about Tanden. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the committee, joined some GOP colleagues in questioning Tanden about some inflammatory comments she previously made on Twitter. "Your attacks were not just made against Republicans," he said. "There were vicious attacks made against progressives. People I have worked with." Sanders acknowledged lawmakers are used to such criticism, but he clarified that "it's important" to refrain from personal attacks and instead express "differences on policy." Tanden told Sanders she regrets her past remarks and will change her approach if confirmed. .@SenSanders says it's important to "minimize the level of personal and vicious attacks." Asks Neera Tanden if she'll have a different approach at OMB.@neeratanden: "Absolutely...social media does lead to too many personal comments and my approach will be radically different." pic.twitter.com/QB6FAtrWQr — CSPAN (@cspan) February 10, 2021 More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Fox abruptly cuts off impeachment manager during testimony

    Fox News Channel cut off an impeachment manager in mid-sentence Wednesday as he was presenting dramatic video footage of the mob attacking the U.S. Capitol last month and government leaders running for safety. “The political math doesn't add up,” Fox's Jesse Watters said. The incident was a dramatic illustration of the tightrope walked by programmers at television networks that appeal to fans of former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial.

  • Myanmar faces European push at U.N. to condemn coup

    The United Nations' top human rights body is to consider a resolution on Friday drafted by Britain and the European Union that would condemn Myanmar's military coup and demand urgent access for monitors, a text seen by Reuters shows. However, diplomats said Human Rights Council members China and Russia - who both have ties to Myanmar's armed forces - are expected to raise objections or try to weaken the text. Procedural wrangling began on Monday, with Beijing and Moscow raising objections over virtual voting as officials met to plan both the council's four-week session from Feb. 22 and Friday's special session on Myanmar.

  • Fauci predicts 'everybody and anybody' will be able to get vaccinated starting in April

    Dr. Anthony Fauci has a dose of hope for Americans looking to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Right now, COVID-19 vaccines are in short supply, and every state has restricted their distribution to priority groups like older people and essential workers. But Fauci sees that turning around in just a few short months. "As we get into March and April, the number of available doses will allow for much more of a mass vaccination approach," he told the Today show on Thursday. "I would imagine by the time we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better wording, 'open season,'" Fauci added. "Namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated." Still, it could take several months for everyone to nab an appointment and complete inoculation, he said. “By the time we get to April, that will be what I would call open season,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says about the timeline for vaccination availability for all groups to begin getting shots. pic.twitter.com/BMGD3YSVex — TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 11, 2021 Fauci's prediction came just hours before President Biden announced the purchase of 200 million more vaccine doses. While visiting the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, Biden said 100 million more Moderna vaccine and 100 million more from Pfizer will be available this summer. That means the U.S. has purchased enough doses to vaccinate every American, and will have procured 300 million doses total by this summer. BREAKING: "We've now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans," President Biden says after announcing the purchase of 200M more coronavirus vaccines (100M Moderna, 100M Pfizer). "We're now on track to have enough supply for 300M Americans by the end of July." pic.twitter.com/lGXtxFtKCP — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 11, 2021 More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Asian Man Beaten and Robbed of ‘Around $15K’ at Bank in the Bay Area

    In the latest of a new surge in anti-Asian attacks, a man was assaulted and robbed while trying to deposit “large sums of money” at a bank in San Leandro, California this week. The incident, which left the victim with minor injuries, occurred at the Bank of America branch at 1925 Marina Boulevard around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Witnesses tell me this older Asian man was making a deposit at the Bank of America along Marina in San Leandro & was attacked & robbed.

  • Alabama death row inmate Willie B Smith given last-minute execution reprieve

    State plans to challenge appeal court's ruling on death row inmate

  • Scene-by-scene: Graphic new footage of Capitol siege shows Mike Pence's narrow escape with the 'nuclear football'

    Donald Trump stands accused of being the “Inciter in Chief” who summoned a mob of violent insurrectionists to attack the Capitol building and try to overturn the result of the November election. In chilling new video footage played during his trial for impeachment, Senators were shown just how dangerous, violent and committed those rioters were on Jan 6. There are desperate calls for backup. Panicked Senators run through the building looking for escape routes. Brave police officers try to hold their lines and push the rioters back. Mitt Romney, a Republican senator who was steered away from trouble by police officer Eugene Goodman, said: "It tears at your heart and brings tears to your eyes. "That was overwhelmingly distressing and emotional". This is how the day unfolded, according to Democrat prosecutors. 12:30pm - Trump's speech

  • How to Add a Little Extra Luxury to Your Bath Time

    If not a lot of luxuryOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Iranian nuclear scientist killed by one-ton automated gun in Israeli hit: Jewish Chronicle

    The Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated near Tehran in November was killed by a one-ton gun smuggled into Iran in pieces by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, according to a report by The Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday. Citing intelligence sources, the British weekly said a team of more than 20 agents, including Israeli and Iranian nationals, carried out the ambush on scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh after eight months of surveillance. Shortly after his death Iran pointed the finger at Israel, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif writing on Twitter of “serious indications of (an) Israeli role."

  • Teens Charged Over Rape and Murder of Milwaukee Woman

    Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the rape and death of Ee Lee in Washington Park, Milwaukee in September 2020. Violent crime: Lee, 36, was found unconscious, still breathing but with severe injuries and undressed below the waist in Washington Park by "bystanders" on Sept. 16, 2020. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Lee was sexually assaulted and identified blunt force trauma to her head as the cause of her death.

  • Josh Hawley's wife pens Fox News editorial detailing protests, death threats over husband's election response

    Ms Hawley called the protest 'an assault' on her home, though there was no damage and no violence occurred

  • Murkowski says after seeing 'pretty damning' evidence, she doesn't think Trump could ever be re-elected

    Previously unreleased footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shown during Wednesday's impeachment proceedings left Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) "angry," "disturbed," and "sad," she told reporters Wednesday night. The video and audio showcased the brutality of some members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol. In one clip, an officer was shown getting crushed in a doorway, while other videos showed officers getting shoved as they tried to keep rioters back. "I don't see how after the American public sees the whole story laid out here ... how Donald Trump could be re-elected to the presidency," Murkowski told reporters. The House impeachment managers put together a timeline detailing where the rioters were at the Capitol, Trump's messages to the mob, and pleas lawmakers made to Trump in an attempt to get his supporters to leave the complex. The managers are trying to prove that Trump incited an insurrection, and they are making "a strong case," Murkowski said. "The evidence that has been presented thus far is pretty damning." More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Strong earthquake shakes western Indonesia; no tsunami alert

    A strong undersea earthquake shook western Indonesia on Wednesday, but no injuries were immediately reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 6.2 quake struck at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) and was centered 217 kilometers (135 miles) south-southwest of Bengkulu city in Bengkulu province on the southwestern side of Sumatra island. No tsunami warning was issued by the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency and no casualties were immediately reported.