Donald Trump Claims Buffalo Man Injured By Police Could Be An Antifa Provocateur
A video circulating online shows Buffalo police pushing an elderly man to the ground. On top of that, none of the police officers lend him a hand even when blood starts pouring from his ear. This video triggered outrage among American people and demonstrators, who have been dealing with the police while demanding justice for George Floyd.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo deemed the entire incident as "unjustified and utterly disgraceful." The two officers that pushed the old man have been suspended, but President Trump has a different explanation for the entire episode. On June 9, Trump suggested that the incident was part of a broad scam involving Antifa without offering any sort of evidence.
Antifa is a left-leaning protest organization but it does not coincide with the Democratic Party platform. Trump wrote in his tweet that the Buffalo protester pushed by the police officers could be an ANTIFA provocateur. Martin Gugino, 75, was shoved after he appeared to scan police communications to blackout the equipment.
In the aforesaid tweet, Trump tagged One America News Network (@OANN) claiming that he watched the video and noted that Gugino fell harder than he was pushed and accused him of aiming the scanner. Trump suggested the entire incident could be a setup. It is worth noting that Trump came up with this theory after watching a clip on the One America News Network.
In the segment, the clip shows Gugino trying to adopt the common Antifa tactics when he stood in front of the police officers. This suggests the 75-year-old man was using his phone to scan police communication. The OAN reporter accused Gugino of using police tracking software on his mobile phone, but it is hard to hazard that guess simply from watching a clip since Gugino's phone screen is not even visible.
There is also a possibility that Gugino might be just gesturing with his mobile phone, but there is no way of knowing. What is evident in the clip is that Gugino fell backward, hitting his head on the ground after the police pushed him and it can also be seen that blood started pouring from his ear. A report from WGRZ suggests he has now been hospitalized.
Aside from that, CNN revealed that Gugino is an activist who has a reputation for protesting peacefully and no evidence suggests he is part of Antifa. Taking these facts into consideration, the level of irresponsibility on display by the president exceeds even his standards.