Buffalo Police Officers Confronted by Surly Left-wing Activist at Black Lives Matter Rally Have Charges Dismissed
Shane Trejo
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Two Buffalo, N.Y. police officers whose case went viral after a confrontation with a surly left-wing activist at a Black Lives Matter rally last summer have had their assault charges dropped.
Officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe were charged with assault after 75-year-old protester Martin Gugino attempted to obstruct them as they prepared to deal with BLM rioters at Niagara Square. Gugino took a hard fall, and the mob demanded the scalps of Torgalski and McCabe as a result.
However, the rule of law prevailed over the mob this time around. A grand jury voted to “no bill” the case, which means the charges will be dismissed. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn explained the situation during a press conference on Thursday.
“To this day, I’ll stand by the fact that charges should have been charged, and there was probable cause at that time to charge that offense, and I stand by that,” Flynn said to defend his decision to charge the officers. “I make no apologies for it.”
“I sandbagged nothing,” he said of the grand jury investigation. “You have my word on that.”
Torgalski’s lawyer, Joseph Latona, feels that justice was served as a result of the grand jury’s decision.
“We feel they made the right decision,” he said. “And obviously it was their decision to make.”
“Nobody wanted to see Mr. Gugino get hurt, but this did not happen because these two cops sought out to hurt anyone,” McCabe’s attorney Thomas Burton said. “The bottom line is, there’s nothing malevolent here.”
Big League Politics reported on the incident shortly after it occurred in June 2020:
Buffalo, N.Y. officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe, who were suspended last month following an encounter with a left-wing agitator, are back on payroll despite being hit with felony assault charges.
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn Jr. filed the charges to appease the mob, but law enforcement has stood with Torgalski and McCabe. Hundreds of cops have lent their support to the duo, and a petition in favor of their reinstatement has been signed 2,700 times. Capt. Jeff Rinaldo confirmed on Monday that the men are back on the city’s payroll.
57 Buffalo police officers resigned from the city’s Emergency Response Team after Torgalski and McCabe were suspended for attempting to keep the peace against the mob.
“Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” said John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association.
The fake news media rallied around 75-year-old Martin Gugino after he did his fall following a police encounter at a Black Lives Matter (BLM) rally last month. However, President Donald Trump never bought the hype, suggesting in a controversial tweet that Gugino staged the incident to demonize law enforcement.
Gugino’s pratfall was not enough to sway the grand jury, and these cops are free to protect and serve without these charges looming over them.
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