Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old protester, lays on the ground after he was shoved by two Buffalo, New York, police officers during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd in Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York, on June 4, 2020. (Reuters photo)

Two US police officers have been charged with assault on a harmless protester in recent demonstrations in Buffalo, New York over the death of George Floyd.

Officers Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, crossed the red line when a harmless 75-year-old man was shoved strong enough to make him fall and hit his head on the ground, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

At a court hearing on Saturday the two officers, who have been suspended without pay, pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault and were released without bail, pending trial.

If convicted, the officers face up to seven years in prison.

Meanwhile, local media reported on Tuesday that the longtime rights activist, Martin Gugino, who had been injured by the officers during a protest in Niagara Square last week, was still in hospital recovering from his injury.

Martin Gugino is still hospitalized and his condition remains largely unchanged. He is in serious but stable condition, his attorney, Kelly V. Zarcone said in a statement.

Zarcone emphasized that the Gugino family had requested privacy as they focus on Martin’s health and recovery.

He noted, however, that his client had received a tremendous outpouring of support from across the country.

Initially, the Buffalo New York Police Public Information Office had reported that the elderly man had tripped and fell over.

However, video footage of the incident clearly showed that Officer Torgalski had pushed the old man.

The footage shows Gugino approaching a line of helmeted officers holding batons as they cleared demonstrators from Niagara Square around the time of an 8 pm curfew.

The officers push Gugino backward and he hits his head on the sidewalk. Blood spills as officers walk past. One officer leans down on the injured man before another officer urges him to keep walking.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned the incident, describing it as disgusting, and in his opinion, illegal.

The footage became viral adding fuel to the nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd who was killed in police custody after several white police officers pinned the unarmed and handcuffed black man on the ground while one of them pressed his knee on his neck for 9 minutes.

SOURCE: PRESS TV