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Jun 8

2020

Ali Ingersoll discusses protests on WGRZ

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 Michael Wooten quizzed Ali Ingersoll Monday on her impressions of ongoing protests and the change demonstrators are seeking. She said demonstrations calmed down through the course of the week and that protestors are clear on the change they seek: major reform of the police department. Ingersoll also explained the dynamics of “defunding police,” which is an effort to  recast how public safety services are delivered and reallocate resources accordingly. The New York Times published a good primer on it this evening. Calls to defund police departments are generally seeking spending cuts to police forces that have consumed ever larger[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 8

2020

What police reform should look like

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The focus of protests in Buffalo the past week has sharpened: reform the Buffalo Police Department. A coalition of activists have put 13 demands in front of Mayor Byron Brown, some more achievable than others. Protestors have also raised the issue of Sheriff Tim Howard’s deadly management of county jails, where 30 inmates have died on his watch. Here’s my two cents on where to go from here. The big picture: We have a big problem with the actions and attitude of law enforcement in Western New York. It’s not a matter of a few bad apples — there are[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 6

2020

Mayor defends police, attacks their union

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Mayor Byron Brown was interviewed Friday evening by CNN’s Chris Cuomo and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. To both, he lamented the injury to Gugino and praised his police commissioner for quickly suspending the officers and launching an internal investigation of their actions. Brown also defended the Emergency Response Team officers who marched past Gugino as he lay bleeding on the ground, immobile except for eerily slow flexing of the fingers on his right hand. The ERT officers, Brown explained, are trained to keep moving in formation, leaving the injured for medics “embedded” behind their front line. Those medics, he said, attended[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 6

2020

Cops charged; mayor and activists negotiate

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Updated: 8:59 p.m. Two days after their push of a demonstrator drew nationwide attention — and condemnation — two Buffalo police officers were arraigned in Buffalo City Court on charges of second degree assault. A large crowd of fellow law enforcement officers made a show of support, congregating in front of the downtown courthouse and, in some instances, attempting to obscure the view of videographers shooting the scene. Officers Robert McCabe, 32, and Aaron Torgalski, 39, members of the police department’s Emergency Response Team until all 57 members resigned from the assignment Friday, were charged in a virtual arraignment and[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 5

2020

Victim of police shove a veteran activist

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The protestor seen being shoved by two Buffalo Police officers is Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old long-time activist, known by many in the community. “He would want this information to get out so the story is more than ‘an elderly man was pushed down,’” said Terrance Bisson, a friend and activist with the Latin American Solidarity Committee. “He stands for something.”  Gugino is said to be in stable but serious condition at Erie County Medical Center.  “It would be typical of him to be speaking with someone, asking questions about why was this being done when it doesn’t have to be[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 5

2020

Police crowd-control unit resigns in protest

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Updated: Saturday, 5:11 p.m. A special squad on the Buffalo Police Department — the Emergency Response Team — has resigned from their posts, according to the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association. The announcement comes one day after two members were suspended without pay when a video surfaced, showing the officers pushing over a 75-year-old protestor, causing injury. The BPD Internal Affairs unit has opened an investigation into the incident.  “Fifty-seven resigned in disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders,” said John Evans, PBA president.  All officers who resigned from ERT will remain on[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 5

2020

Scant proof of “outside agitators”

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Politicians and police have been raising the spectre of “outside agitators” since the day protests began in Buffalo. For the most part, local media has amplified the message: Outsiders are slipping into town to incite violence and destruction.  But arrest records suggest that narrative is not true. And officials allow that much of the intelligence underlying the claim consists of posts on social media, not known as a reliable source of accurate information. There are other sources, authorities say, but they are unwilling to discuss them. And so the phrase — freighted with bigotry, according to UB professor Henry Louis[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 4

2020

Police assault injures protester

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Updated: Friday, 3:40 a.m. Important events have unfolded since we posted Thursday evening about a peaceful resolution between police and protesters the night before in front of City Hall. Shortly after 8 p.m. Thursday, a video shot by a reporter with WBFO captured two Buffalo police officers shoving a 75-year-old protester to the ground. The man struck his head with an audible thud on the sidewalk in front of City Hall and immediately began bleeding. He was transferred to Erie County Medical Center, where he is listed in serious but stable condition. Here’s a report from our partners at WGRZ. A[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post