Two Buffalo police officers have been charged with assault, prosecutors say, after a video showed them shoving a 75-year-old protester in recent demonstrations over the death of George Floyd.
Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski, who surrendered on Saturday morning (US time), pleaded not guilty to second-degree assault. They were released without bail.
McCabe, 32, and Torgalski, 39, "crossed a line" when they shoved the man down hard enough for him to crack his head on the ground, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference, calling the victim "a harmless 75-year-old man".
![The officers were filmed shoving the man to the ground and leaving him bleeding. Photo / Twitter](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/MXNXSGM6P7B3ROP3PMCPJQOHAM.jpg?auth=7e6512098dced91d1209a9251d26f56ea86ef0b79df117cf5532955f406987df&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
The officers had been suspended without pay on Friday after a TV crew captured the confrontation the night before near the end of protests. If convicted of the felony assault charge, they face up to seven years in prison.