New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called an incident where a 75-year-old man was pushed down by police in Buffalo during a protest “offensive and frightening."
Cuomo made his comments during his daily press briefing on Friday, where he played the video of the man being shoved to the ground. CBS News posted a video of his comments.
“You see that video and it disturbs your basic sense of decency in humanity,” he said. “Why? Why was that necessary? Where was the threat? And then you just walk by the person when you see blood coming from his head. And police officers walk by him.
“It’s just fundamentally offensive and frightening. It’s just frightening. It’s like who are we? How did we get to this place? Incidents of pushing the press. You have incidents of police getting hit with bricks in the head. Where are we? Who are we? And these are undeniable situations.”
On Thursday night, Cuomo tweeted about the incident, saying: “This incident is wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful. I’ve spoken with Buffalo @MayorByronBrown and we agree that the officers involved should be immediately suspended pending a formal investigation. Police Officers must enforce – NOT ABUSE – the law.”
On Thursday, Cuomo had praised police officers, according to CBS2 in New York.
"The police are doing an impossible job," he said during a press conference in Albany. "They're trying to deal with the protesters. They're trying to stop looting. And they're trying to keep themselves safe."