Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Martin Gugino is shoved by two Buffalo police officers, Thursday, June 4, 2020, in Buffalo, New York. Video screengrab via WBFO.

(RNS) — A Catholic social justice activist who was knocked to the ground by police during a protest over racism last year has sued the city of Buffalo, its mayor, the police commissioner and several police officers.

The lawsuit, filed by Martin Gugino on Monday (Feb. 22) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alleges Gugino’s constitutional rights to peaceful assembly were violated.

Gugino, who fractured his skull and suffered a brain injury, accuses the city of an “unconstitutional and draconian” curfew that was “selectively enforced against peaceful protesters.” It accuses the city of “unreasonable use of force” to disperse the protesters, a failure to train and supervise officers and a “deliberate indifference” to constitutional rights, according to the civil suit.

Ten days ago, a grand jury declined to indict Buffalo police officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe on criminal felony assault charges. The two officers remain suspended pending the results of an internal investigation into the case.

The lawsuit, filed by Martin Gugino on Monday (Feb. 22) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, alleges Gugino’s constitutional rights to peaceful assembly were violated.

In a video of the June 4 confrontation, Gugino was seen approaching police who were in riot gear during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd. Two officers — McCabe and Torgalski — pushed Gugino away. He fell back, cracking his head open and visibly bleeding on the sidewalk as the police officers walked past him.

The video went viral and became symbolic of the kinds of police action that have sparked calls for fundamental reforms to American policing.

Gugino, who is now 76, ended up in intensive care and spent nearly a month at Erie County Medical Center. He is now living on his own in Buffalo, but he lost hearing in one ear and still is unstable while walking.

He remains staunchly committed to nonviolent protest and likes to point to the clause in the First Amendment that speaks of “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Richard Weisbeck, a lawyer for Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria who filed the suit, said in a statement  that “Gugino became the victim of police brutality at the very moment he was peaceably and constitutionally protesting against police brutality.”

The suit asks for compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024