SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Police officers in Buffalo, New York walk by the motionless body of 75-year-old Martin Gugino as he bleeds from his ear after being attack attacked by officers during a protest on June 5, 2020. (Photo: Screengrab/WBFO)
'Truly Despicable': Critics Pounce After Trump Tweets Conspiracy Theories About 75-Year-Old Victim of Police Brutality Martin Gugino
"Trump blames victim of police brutality for police brutality."
Jun 09, 2020
President Donald Trump came under fire Tuesday morning after tweeting out a conspiracy theory charging that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, whose assault by Buffalo police last week resulted in his continued hospitalization, was a member of an ill-defined left-wing group and suggested he faked his injuries.
"Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur," the president tweeted, adding that Gugino--who immediately began bleeding from his ear after being violently shoved by officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe--"fell harder than was pushed."
\u201cTruly despicable tweet.\u201d— George Zornick (@George Zornick) 1591706337
"Wow, Donald Trump in effect stomps on a 75-year-old peace activist who was pushed by police, fell over backward to the ground, and started bleeding from the head," tweeted journalist Steve Greenhouse in reply. "Wow, what an amazingly un-compassionate president we have."
Gugino remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition.
"No one should be assaulted by the police in this way," Intercept journalist Jeremy Scahill said on Twitter. "But for the record, this 75-year-old is a pacifist Catholic Worker who dedicated his life to nonviolence, serving the poor, living the Sermon on the Mount, and fighting for justice in the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin."
As Common Dreams reported last week, the assault on the longtime, well known Buffalo activist was caught on camera and resulted in the suspension and charging of Torgalski and McCabe. The remaining 57 members of the Emergency Response Team then resigned from their positions on the unit in solidarity with the two officers.
"Trump blames victim of police brutality for police brutality," said journalist Windsor Mann.
The president's endorsement of a conspiracy theory around Gugino's injuries appears to use arguments from a segment on far-right news channel One America News Network, itself citing a blog called Conservative Treehouse.
\u201cHere's the first half of the batshit OANN segment Trump just tweeted. It alleges the 75 year old man assaulted by Buffalo police officers was an antifa operative, based on a report from Conservative Treehouse.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
\u201cHere's the rest of it, which says that media are "fan[ning] the flames of national unrest" by promoting this "far-left provocation" to hurt Trump and help China.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
Critics of the president took issue instantly with the baseless allegations against Gugino and Trump's excuse for the violence.
"Takes a lot for a Trump tweet to be genuinely shocking at this point," tweeted The Hill's Niall Stanage. "And yet, here we are."
\u201cThere was blood leaking from his head.\nIt is visible on the video.\nHe is still in the hospital.\u201d— Heidi Przybyla (@Heidi Przybyla) 1591707415
\u201cCongrats to all the Republican senators who today will be asked if they believe that a 75 year old Catholic volunteer is an "ANTIFA provocateur" who "set up" the incident that put him in the hospital.\u201d— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney Sneed) 1591707314
"Not much going on here," said Intercept senior editor Peter Maas, "just a racist far-right conspiracy-theorist who's president of the U.S. and about 40 percent of the electorate are going to vote for him in November."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
President Donald Trump came under fire Tuesday morning after tweeting out a conspiracy theory charging that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, whose assault by Buffalo police last week resulted in his continued hospitalization, was a member of an ill-defined left-wing group and suggested he faked his injuries.
"Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur," the president tweeted, adding that Gugino--who immediately began bleeding from his ear after being violently shoved by officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe--"fell harder than was pushed."
\u201cTruly despicable tweet.\u201d— George Zornick (@George Zornick) 1591706337
"Wow, Donald Trump in effect stomps on a 75-year-old peace activist who was pushed by police, fell over backward to the ground, and started bleeding from the head," tweeted journalist Steve Greenhouse in reply. "Wow, what an amazingly un-compassionate president we have."
Gugino remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition.
"No one should be assaulted by the police in this way," Intercept journalist Jeremy Scahill said on Twitter. "But for the record, this 75-year-old is a pacifist Catholic Worker who dedicated his life to nonviolence, serving the poor, living the Sermon on the Mount, and fighting for justice in the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin."
As Common Dreams reported last week, the assault on the longtime, well known Buffalo activist was caught on camera and resulted in the suspension and charging of Torgalski and McCabe. The remaining 57 members of the Emergency Response Team then resigned from their positions on the unit in solidarity with the two officers.
"Trump blames victim of police brutality for police brutality," said journalist Windsor Mann.
The president's endorsement of a conspiracy theory around Gugino's injuries appears to use arguments from a segment on far-right news channel One America News Network, itself citing a blog called Conservative Treehouse.
\u201cHere's the first half of the batshit OANN segment Trump just tweeted. It alleges the 75 year old man assaulted by Buffalo police officers was an antifa operative, based on a report from Conservative Treehouse.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
\u201cHere's the rest of it, which says that media are "fan[ning] the flames of national unrest" by promoting this "far-left provocation" to hurt Trump and help China.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
Critics of the president took issue instantly with the baseless allegations against Gugino and Trump's excuse for the violence.
"Takes a lot for a Trump tweet to be genuinely shocking at this point," tweeted The Hill's Niall Stanage. "And yet, here we are."
\u201cThere was blood leaking from his head.\nIt is visible on the video.\nHe is still in the hospital.\u201d— Heidi Przybyla (@Heidi Przybyla) 1591707415
\u201cCongrats to all the Republican senators who today will be asked if they believe that a 75 year old Catholic volunteer is an "ANTIFA provocateur" who "set up" the incident that put him in the hospital.\u201d— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney Sneed) 1591707314
"Not much going on here," said Intercept senior editor Peter Maas, "just a racist far-right conspiracy-theorist who's president of the U.S. and about 40 percent of the electorate are going to vote for him in November."
President Donald Trump came under fire Tuesday morning after tweeting out a conspiracy theory charging that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, whose assault by Buffalo police last week resulted in his continued hospitalization, was a member of an ill-defined left-wing group and suggested he faked his injuries.
"Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur," the president tweeted, adding that Gugino--who immediately began bleeding from his ear after being violently shoved by officers Aaron Torgalski and Robert McCabe--"fell harder than was pushed."
\u201cTruly despicable tweet.\u201d— George Zornick (@George Zornick) 1591706337
"Wow, Donald Trump in effect stomps on a 75-year-old peace activist who was pushed by police, fell over backward to the ground, and started bleeding from the head," tweeted journalist Steve Greenhouse in reply. "Wow, what an amazingly un-compassionate president we have."
Gugino remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition.
"No one should be assaulted by the police in this way," Intercept journalist Jeremy Scahill said on Twitter. "But for the record, this 75-year-old is a pacifist Catholic Worker who dedicated his life to nonviolence, serving the poor, living the Sermon on the Mount, and fighting for justice in the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin."
As Common Dreams reported last week, the assault on the longtime, well known Buffalo activist was caught on camera and resulted in the suspension and charging of Torgalski and McCabe. The remaining 57 members of the Emergency Response Team then resigned from their positions on the unit in solidarity with the two officers.
"Trump blames victim of police brutality for police brutality," said journalist Windsor Mann.
The president's endorsement of a conspiracy theory around Gugino's injuries appears to use arguments from a segment on far-right news channel One America News Network, itself citing a blog called Conservative Treehouse.
\u201cHere's the first half of the batshit OANN segment Trump just tweeted. It alleges the 75 year old man assaulted by Buffalo police officers was an antifa operative, based on a report from Conservative Treehouse.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
\u201cHere's the rest of it, which says that media are "fan[ning] the flames of national unrest" by promoting this "far-left provocation" to hurt Trump and help China.\u201d— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1591706603
Critics of the president took issue instantly with the baseless allegations against Gugino and Trump's excuse for the violence.
"Takes a lot for a Trump tweet to be genuinely shocking at this point," tweeted The Hill's Niall Stanage. "And yet, here we are."
\u201cThere was blood leaking from his head.\nIt is visible on the video.\nHe is still in the hospital.\u201d— Heidi Przybyla (@Heidi Przybyla) 1591707415
\u201cCongrats to all the Republican senators who today will be asked if they believe that a 75 year old Catholic volunteer is an "ANTIFA provocateur" who "set up" the incident that put him in the hospital.\u201d— Tierney Sneed (@Tierney Sneed) 1591707314
"Not much going on here," said Intercept senior editor Peter Maas, "just a racist far-right conspiracy-theorist who's president of the U.S. and about 40 percent of the electorate are going to vote for him in November."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.