Martin Gugino is speaking out about what happened to him when he attended a protest in Buffalo, New York earlier this summer that landed him in the hospital for a month.
The 75-year-old was shoved by police in front of Buffalo City Hall during a June protest over the police shooting of George Floyd. The push sent Gugino to the ground where he hit his skull on the pavement. The incident was filmed and the video went viral.
He told USA Today he does not remember being shoved. The incident caused a brain injury and fractured his skull. He said he has some recollection of what happened minutes before or after he was pushed.
The newspaper reports he was reluctant to talk about the encounter he had with law enforcement and he is not interested in becoming a symbol for a movement.
He said plenty of people are injured and "a lot are killed," but those incidents are not talked about, especially if they are not captured on film.
He did call the incident a "turning point" for him. He said he will continue to participate in protests as he has done for several decades. He is passionate about activism involving the First Amendment. He said he will also keep writing about climate change and injustices at Guantanamo Bay.
"My life is headed in a new direction," Gugino told USA Today. "How is it different? I'm not really sure yet."
The incident that sent Gugino to the hospital for a month took place June 4. He showed up at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Buffalo around 7:45 p.m. ET, 15 minutes before the city-imposed curfew went into effect.
Right before police began to head toward the crowd to break it up, he said he noticed they were wearing helmets, vests, and batons.
"I thought, 'Why are they carrying batons?'" he recalled.
Then at about 8:10 p.m., videos show officers walking toward protesters who were violating the city's imposed curfew. Gugino is seen approaching the officers head on in a video.
He told USA Today he remembers thinking, "Oh my God," adding, "and that's all I can remember."
Then, two officers are seen shoving him away. After he falls back and hits his head, he is rushed to Erie County Medical Center.
The two officers involved, Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, were suspended without pay and later charged with second-degree assault.
They pleaded not guilty. Both are currently suspended with pay, as officers cannot be suspended without pay for more than 30 days, according to a city spokesperson.
Gugino was stuck in a hospital bed after the incident. He said it was hard to walk, and he had to go through physical therapy.
He said he was not fazed by accusations he was a "leftist provocateur," or his fall was a hoax.
"I was like, 'Go ahead, take your best shot,'" he said.
He told USA Today he does not have a different viewpoint on police officers since his encounter. He said he sees them as regular people who are working in a broken system.
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