Buffalo police officers shove 75 year-old man to the ground, claim he tripped and fell, unaware that cameras exist and are commonplace

The Buffalo-based NPR station WBFO posted the video above and reported this story last night:

Shortly after Buffalo’s curfew started Thursday evening, city police and State Police swept through the area of Niagara Square directly in front of City Hall to clear the area where a protest was finishing. An unidentified, 75-year-old man was shoved by two officers in the line. The man lost his balance and fell to the pavement, audibly hitting his head with blood running out from under his head.

A Buffalo Police spokesman issued a statement at 8:50 p.m. Thursday saying “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.“

It happened:

• In a public place — in Niagara Square, just outside Buffalo’s city hall,
• In front of many witnesses, including the person who shot the video, and
• In front of a number of journalists…

…and yet the Buffalo Police Department’s first statement was to say that the man “tripped & fell” at 8:50 p.m..

At 9:13 p.m., WBFO posted the video above, showing the the police’s statement was a lie. Shortly afterwards, the police announced that they were starting an Internal Affairs investigation and that the two officers involved were immediately suspended without pay.

This morning, the Buffalo Police are “explaining” the “tripped & fell” statement — they’re backpedaling so hard that it might count as cardio. If only they put as much effort into doing their jobs properly.