Unidentified old man lays on the ground and bleeds from the head in Buffalo after tough guy cops half his age pushed him down. |
Yes, I know.
The trouble with the police in America well predates yesterday. And yes, the death of George Floyd is orders of magnitude worse than some random old white guy getting knocked out by brain dead, Cro-Magnon man cops.
Apparently, the old man will recover.
But not every old man whose head hits the pavement will recover. Pavement is hard. Old man heads are fragile.
And none of this is even the point.
The point is that the Buffalo Police released a statement about this incident after it happened, but before they realized someone nearby had filmed it (scroll for video, below).
Here's the statement, in part, that they released at approximately 8:50 pm.
"A 5th person was arrested during a skirmish with other protestors and also charged with disorderly conduct. During that skirmish involving protestors, one person was injured when he tripped & fell."
I'm not even going to touch the fact that the semi-literate Buffalo Police Department misspelled the word protesters. Twice. No, I won't do it.
WBFO, which is a local National Public Radio affiliate serving Buffalo, released this video of the same incident 23 minutes later. Oops!
In the drug-addled, alcoholic cop mind, this is apparently what it looks like when someone trips and falls.
Naturally, the video went viral and was watched millions of times. In the face of this minor public relations setback, the Buffalo Police did not amend their earlier statement.
But at 11:05 pm, Byron Brown, the Mayor of Buffalo, amended it for them. This is what he said:
"Tonight, after a physical altercation between two separate groups of protesters participating in an illegal demonstration beyond the curfew, two Buffalo Police officers knocked down a 75-year-old man. The victim is in stable but serious condition at ECMC. I was deeply disturbed by the video, as was Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood."
What's nifty about the Mayor's statement is how it includes a victim-blaming qualifier at the beginning.
And the last sentence of the statement would be more truthful if it went something like this:
"I was deeply disturbed to discover that the incident was videotaped for everyone to see, as was Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood."
Who is Aaron Torgalski?
One of the cops who knocked the old guy over is named Aaron Torgalski, if information like that interests you. He is a registered Republican who lives in East Aurora, New York.
Of course he doesn't live in Buffalo, because God forbid cops ever live in the communities they ostensibly serve.
Both Torgalski, and the other, unidentified cop, have been suspended without pay pending an investigation into their actions.
This is Torgalski (I would never in a million years suggest that you stop by his house or contact him in any way):
Good shoulders and arms on this guy. Useful for knocking old men unconscious. Looks like he's been skipping leg day, though. |
So the police all over OUR nation (doesn't happen elsewhere except in other Third World countries) are responding to peaceful protests about police brutality with EVEN MORE police brutality. Duh! Trying to beat your way out of a job, boys? The fortunate unintended consequence of these incidents is that the Overton Window of Political Possibilities about the nature of policing is shifting wildly. Just like religion went from being an all-powerful evil force (like during the Crusades) and is now a little building in the neighborhood, let's hope that's what happens to police departments in the U.S..
ReplyDeleteTheir behavior is the very definition of toxic masculinity.
ReplyDelete