One America News does another victory lap after arbitrator clears officers who shoved 75-year-old Buffalo protester of wrongdoing
OAN host: “Like I told you,” arbitrators “saw through” Gugino's “sweet, ‘I'm a 75-year-old innocent man out here just protesting’” act
Published
Citation From the April 12, 2022, edition of OAN's Real America with Dan Ball
DAN BALL (OAN HOST): In another major case, we told you that's kind of a told you so. And we'll get to our next guest in a second. But I had to bring these up. The two Buffalo police officers accused of shoving a BLM 75-year-old protester to the ground, injuring, have been cleared of all wrongdoing. That's right. A state arbitrator ruled that both officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe did not violate the department's use of force. If you recall, back in June of 2020, take a look. The officers pushed 75-year-old Martin Gugino to the ground at a George Floyd protest in Buffalo outside of the City Hall. Both officers were suspended without pay and then all thanks to a grand jury who then denied to indict them. They then looked into the case. And guess what? Like I told you, the arbitrator said, you're no longer facing second-degree assault charges.
This guy has been a — for decades, by the way — a habitual agitator, if you will. OK? He's been involved in protests since he was a kid. He's 75. In the last few years, he's gotten more radical with BLM and Antifa protests. He tries to invoke violence from cops. That's what the guy does. So don't let the sweet, “I'm a 75-year-old innocent man out here just protesting” — no. That's not who he is, and I'm glad they saw through that and didn't persecute those cops.
Here now to review both of these cases and their outcomes: criminal defense attorney and 2016 Trump campaign surrogate, my pal David Wohl. David, let's begin with the cops because I think this is a quick one. It was questionable when we saw the video, but here at OAN, we did digging on the guy and found out he's got a, if you will, a record of doing this. He's an instigator. Right?
DAVID WOHL (CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, JACOB WOHL'S FATHER): Yeah, well, not only that, but the question for the authorities investigating the case was, is the use of force reasonable, not how the particular person who's subjected to the force reacts to the force. He was an older man, but he did look like he helped himself trip a little bit backwards, and with his history of engaging in this kind of stunt, they apparently felt that there was nothing to the case and reinstated the officers, and, by the way, earlier failed to prosecute them, basically, on the same principle of use of force is reasonable. And I think this guy was engaging in a little bit of showmanship if you will. I don't know how badly he was injured, but he didn't need to do that. And with his history, they certainly made the right decision.