'His Brain Is Injured:' Lawyer Updates on 75-Year-Old NY Protester Shoved by Police

[kpete]

75-year-old Buffalo protester Martin Gugino has suffered a brain injury as a result of the police incident.

His lawyer said Gugino "is starting physical therapy."

"As heartbreaking as it is, his brain is injured and he is well aware of that now."

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/75-year-old-buffalo-protester-hospitalized-after-cop-shove-suffered-brain-injury-lawyer/2457512/ …

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Laelth]

1. k&r for Martin Gugino. n/t

-Laelth

[grumpyduck]

2. I hope he has real proof from neurologists.

Otherwise it's going to be a mess.

[Crunchy Frog]

10. Why wouldn't he? He was in ICU FFS.

[cstanleytech]

20. I think they mean proof that its recent trauma rather than a prior issue.

[Crunchy Frog]

26. There should be ample proof in the ample quantities of medical records

generated by his hospitalization, and all the imaging studies and neurological workups and monitoring that he will have received.

If he's had a recent physical, or even just engaged in documented normal activities that he's no longer able to, that should be pretty powerful evidence too.

I think this is a stupid thing to worry about.

The real worry is that the cops will be found to have acted appropriately, so no liability.

[wnylib]

31. There are public statements by the

mayor and governor about the inappropriateness, so that should help.

[louis-t]

70. And the attorneys WILL say it's pre-existing.

That's how that stuff works. Went through it myself.

[padah513]

39. He was bleeding from his ear

How much proof do you think he needs?

[Warpy]

55. Probably a basilar fracture

There is often a leak of CSF with those, and infection is a major concern.

I'm not surprised, when that cop shoved him down, he didn't move. He was badly injuried.

Lawsuit time. Send his grandkids through grad school without debt.

[uponit7771]

46. He can get definite proof via different levels of MRIS and neuro syc test

I had a brain injury and there's different levels of testing that they can prove how you were before and after

[DFW]

3. I hope the cop who pushed him to the ground gets prosecuted for assault and battery

Or even "with intent to kill," as the cop just walked on after seeing the guy bleeding from his ear.

Maybe the cop just thinks of "brain injury" in terms of "making him more presdential?"

[lagomorph777]

9. attempted murder

[cstanleytech]

21. Case would likely be lost if they tried to go that route as you would have to prove intent

so an assault case would probably work better if anything would.

[lagomorph777]

66. Seeing him with blood pouring out of his ear and walking past, proves intent.

[louzke9]

68. NO.....

The injury itself, is not enough to get a conviction in a court of law. No prosecutor would gamble a case based on that alone. If a DA even decides to press charges, they will decide on what they think they can WIN on at trial. At best, second degree murder might be charged, but more likely third degree.

https://criminal.laws.com/criminal-law/degrees-of-murder

[lagomorph777]

69. I'm talking about ignoring the injury. That's intent.

But I do get your point about a small conviction being better than a big acquittal.

[cstanleytech]

71. I suspect it will be a charge of assault and maybe elderly abuse if the

state is one of those with it on the books.

[cstanleytech]

73. Intent has to established before and or during an attack.

At best you might get a negligence charge to stick for what happened after but that's about it.

[greymattermom]

65. You are correct.

My research for years was focused on a model of falls in the elderly to learn why outcomes are so much worse than after falls in young or middle aged adults.

[iluvtennis]

12. + agree that cop who shoved Gugino should be charged with assault.

[Hav]

14. He should get prosecuted by the same standard

that I or anyone else would have to face had this been committed not by a cop.
I'm pretty sure I couldn't get away with shoving someone and causing brain damage for the victim. It would be absurd.

[SheltieLover]

19. This!👆

[uponit7771]

45. +1,

[druidity33]

49. Not to mention the civil suit...

which apparently doesn't work on cops. Go figure.

[Lucky Luciano]

50. Higher standard - he's supposed to enforce laws and prevent assaults! Not commit them!

Triple the sentence!

[Ms. Toad]

17. The cop behind's instinct to force the shoving cop to walk on was one of the smarter decisions.

There were others around to help - AND - I suspect the motives of anyone shoving like that who subsequently offers to "help." Help might well be a kick in the face, or planting a gun. If I'd been in the position of the cop who moved the shoving cop along, I'd have done the same thing.

[DFW]

37. Maybe I need to look at the video again

But it seemed to me that one cop, not the shover, wanted to look closer to check on the injured victim and another prevented him from doing it. But it's difficult to determine for sure.

[Oppaloopa]

51. BS Watch again he went over to do or say something more. The guy pushed him away and he left with a

smirk on his face.

[Ms. Toad]

57. the cop who leaned over was the shover.

I watched it dozens of times tracking the three (the shover, the almost-shover, and the one coming up from behind)

It was extremely confusing, but part of what I was trying to sort out was who tried to look and who moved him on.

[Tipperary]

52. I think I read that one who moved the other along was a supervisor.

It does show the supe getting on his radio. Your theory makes sense in that picture. Still, the whole thing was horrendous,

[Ms. Toad]

56. I suspect that's right -

he got on the radio immediately.

But yes, it was absolutely horrendous.

[OhNo-Really]

23. I saw 3 Leo's involved. Played in slow motion. The CO was involved

[Ms. Toad]

58. The CO was coming up from behind,

but didn't quite get there before the cop on the right (in the video) shoved him.

The CO coming up from behind moved the shover on as he leaned over the victim.

(My impression was that he recognized what was about to happen, but couldn't quite get there fast enough to prevent it)

I watched it dozens of times to sort out who was doing what.

[OhNo-Really]

78. Nope. Not what I saw

I saw the CO speak to the two Jr Leo’s who then shoved the older man

Wonder if they had body cam/audio?

One JR Leo tried to help the man but CO pulled him up and sent him moving forward. The other JR Leo acted like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

What has to be true is that these men put on an aggressive, not peaceful, mindset that morning. The unsuspecting older man got in the way of their aggressive attitudes towards protesters.

Also, the CO was also chatting with someone on this wire. A superior giving instructions?

[Ms. Toad]

79. The CO started out several feet behind.

and accelearated toward the two officers as the man moved toward them. He barely got within arms' reach when the shoving occurred - so he could not have been speaking to them before the one LEO shoved him (unless he was shouting from behind).

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/75-year-old-man-shoved-ground-buffalo-police-suffered-brain-n1230421

Stop at 5 sec - you can see the CO is about 6' behind. He starts moving quickly at that pooint
Stop at 7 sec - the CO has caught up and is behind but about an arms' length away
Between 8 and 9 seconds (a second and a half later - too short for the CO to speak with them, the LEO on the right (in the video) shoves the man

The person you are referring to as the JR Leo is the one who shoved him down. Aside from tracing the movements to confirm it was the CO, not the fellow shover, who directed the shover to move on I didn't track the second of the two LEOs involved.

I assumed the CO was reporting the situation, or requesting assistance - but that's purely an assumption.

[OhNo-Really]

80. Here's the slow motion.

I guess without the audio we can’t assume or know CO intent. That’s for Justice to decide.

But this is interesting

Link to tweet

Here’s the slow motion YouTube link for those without Twitter

[Ms. Toad]

81. It doesn't change what I see -

It is exactly as I described it, but slower.

The CO is quite a ways behind, move to catch up to the interaction, gets within about arm's length (as you can see by his outstretched arm) just as the LEO on the (screen) right shoves the man.

[wnylib]

32. Both cops involved have been charged

with assault.

[Corgigal]

36. For now,

those charges can be upgraded.

[mountain grammy]

38. Agree!

it was assault!

[redstatebluegirl]

4. I hope he sues the city of Buffalo for a ton of money.

That poor man.

[MagickMuffin]

6. No, DO NOT sue the city

Sue the enforcer unions and the enforcer involved in the incident. Also sue in Civil Court. Bankrupt them, not the cities.

[BComplex]

7. Exactly.

[FakeNoose]

42. Yep! Agreed

It wasn't the city managers or taxpayers that hired these guys and told them to act like thugs.
They're on their own, let the Union cover them. Or they can pay from their own pockets.

[Pachamama]

76. I agree...

These Police Unions in my opinion play a huge role in keeping the system in place that needs to be changed.

Meanwhile - quick FYI - I like your GIFs in your tagline but there is a spelling typo - the word “Hypocrisy” is spelled with an “s” not a “c”....don’t know if this can be updated, but wanted to make you aware...

[FakeNoose]

82. Thanks

I do know about the typo, and yes it bothers me too.

I didn't make this gif, I found it on the internet where most things are misspelled these days.

[Pachamama]

83. Your welcome...

Debated bringing up the typo and being a spelling commando...

I appreciate when people point out things for accuracy and I know often there are oversights

More importantly- your point on Police Unions was spot on

PS: Love Joe in the yellow sports car

[uponit7771]

44. Can't, the city will admit he was acting as an agent of theirs otherwise he goes to jail

[obamanut2012]

67. As of now, they can't

[IronLionZion]

8. I hope qualified immunity gets struck down

by the Supreme Court or through legislation. We all need to apply pressure to politicians until they get it done

[wnylib]

34. NY state is working on that now, pushed on

by Cuomo.

[Maraya1969]

5. I had a feeling this was going to be the case. My mom fainted while we were waiting

to get into shelter before Hurricane Irma and fell right on her head like he did. She was conscious right after and was taken straight to the hospital but they told me that very often there is a bleed under the scalp and they had to do surgery to relieve the blood.

She was in an ICU for a couple months and was unconscious. It was a very long process. Save for a few months living with me she never really went home again.

She was 85 when it happened.

[democrank]

47. I'm sorry that happened to your Mom.

It must have been a very difficult time.

[Maraya1969]

59. Thank you. I appreciate that.

[soldierant]

62. I'm sorry too.

Closed head injuries are terribly underestimated (except by medical professionals and people who have, themselves or someone close, suffered from them. I cringed and shuddered reading about your Mom's, and about Mr. Gugino's.

[renate]

11. oh no... this is absolutely heartbreaking

I'm so sad, as I know we all are. To live such a good, peaceful life, standing up for what's right, and to be rewarded with this. This just breaks my heart.

[MoonRiver]

13. Poor man. Wishing him a full recovery.

[Ms. Toad]

15. That was, unfortunately, predictable.

You can't have your noggin cracked against the pavement hard enough to bleed out of your ear without there being brain damage.

[SunSeeker]

35. Yup. And you can't shove a 75 yr old onto the concrete without expecting a brain injury. nt

[demtenjeep]

16. when I heard the crack as his head hit the pavement

I knew there was no way he wouldn't have an injury

[SeattleVet]

27. Watching the video from the other angle (across the street) you can see that...

the 'crack' sound wasn't when his head hit...he was carrying a helmet in his left hand, and that was the (still-sickening) sound we heard when it hit the ground.

[kimbutgar]

18. My Mother fell down some stairs and hit her head in the same spot

She had a subdermal hematoma like Mr. Gugino. She was never the same again and it hastened her dementia.

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. They not only pushed him. They walked right on by .

Wouldn't that be some kind of additional charge?

[cilla4progress]

24. Who should he sue?

Legal eagles?

[Alwaysna]

25. My mom fell in the hospital and later died from brain bleed.

[Evolve Dammit]

28. The cop that forcefully shoved him to the ground and then shook his head, needs some jail time.

I'll shake my head for him as he sits in a cell. Arrogant scum.

[uponit7771]

29. I had something similar happen to me 5 years ago and still have aphasia today

[JDC]

30. A concussion would be brain injury. The man is 75

And those f'in cops pushed him down unnecessarily and walked over him like he was garbage. All on video. He is going to sue the shit out of the BPD.

Maybe something that will drive universal citizens' support for clamping down hard on this type of behavior is an assessment. No more city coffers and unseen/unfelt payment to victims. instead, every man, woman and child gets a bill personally for the damages. Every time. Including the costs for the billing and processing.

That shit will stop by Monday.

[SunSeeker]

33. It was clear from the video of blood pouring from his ear that he had a brain injury.

So horrible.

[warmfeet]

40. So why are tax payer dollars going

to fund assholes that injure, maim and kill us?

The motto "to Protect and to Serve" is utter bullshit. It should be, we will totally fuck you up if we feel like it - get in our way, and we will crush you.

I want no part of my tax dollars going towards this crap.

Oh, I almost forgot, fuck trump, fuck republicans, fuck authoritarians and fuck conservatives.

I am antifascist. Always have been. Fuck fascists as well!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

53. Good to meet another anti fascist.

Alot of folks out there to admit they're antifascists.

Fuck the cops.

[Cousin Dupree]

72. Anyone who can inflict injury or death while on the job needs their own personal malpractice

insurance. Why should the American people pay for their bad deeds? This is a huge scam and has been going on for too long.

[Ingersollman]

75. I

too am Antifa!

[NoMoreRepugs]

41. I am hoping a MONSTER New York law firm takes his case pro bono and makes

an example of these two shitbirds charged with assault.

[cwydro]

43. I'd be amazed if he didn't

You could hear his head hit the ground with that awful, sickening thud.

Then bleeding from the ear - not good.

[democrank]

48. I hope Martin Gugino fully recovers.

The cops responsible should be fired.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

54. Murderous thug police force needs a major reckoning.

They are supposed to serve and protect the people, including their right to petition the government for redress of grievances via peaceful protest. And even when the protest contains some elements of violence, it is still the duty of the police to de-escalate, not start cracking heads. Mofo sadist fascists.

[zak247]

60. Massive prevalent lawsuits

This reminds me that a slew of lawsuits all across the country might be more effective in policing the police than anything else.

Sock it to the communities that allow police brutality

[BootinUp]

61. The interviewed woman was excellent. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

63. When I saw he was bleeding from his ears I knew it was bad

And none of those motherfuckers even bothered to help him up or to stop and render aid.

[Dukkha]

64. Well now he has something in common with the president

In his 70s and brain damaged.

[xxqqqzme]

74. I saw a video recorded from Mr. Gugino's left

by someone standing in the street. When Mr. Gugino is pushed and goes down you can actually hear his head thud against the pavement.

I suffered a brain injury in an auto accident 20 years ago I still get headaches where my head hit the frame of the car. Because of W's invasion of Iraq, so much more is known about brain injuries now. I wish Mr. Gugino a good therapist and a steady recovery. It takes time to heal a brain injury.

[HockeyMom]

77. Football and Hockey

Pro Athletes in these sports wear Helmets. They still don't get concussions be tackled to the ground or hitting their heads on the ice? Haven't there been calls for banning children from these sports, also being required to wear helmets?

Don't think a 75 year old man hitting his head on concrete, minus a helmet, won't suffer head/brain injuries?