Seth Rogen, Kumail Nanjiani, lead celebrities wanting action taken on a Buffalo police officer, who left behind an elderly man bleeding ;after the officer pushes him in the middle of one of the protests.
The man, identified by the Buffalo News as Martin Gugino, a long-time peace activist from Amherst, N.Y., later taken to the Erie County Medical Center with a concussion and lacerations. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Friday afternoon that Gugino was in serious but stable condition and is “alert and oriented.”
According to the Buffalo News, Gugino is politically active on social media. He frequently criticizes President Donald Trump; supports Latin American issues through the Western New York Peace Center; and supports a group of convicted anti-nuclear activists, for entering a nuclear submarine station in Georgia.
Celebrities started speaking out against the viral video surfaced of Buffalo, as New York police officers violently shoved a man to the ground. The video has been viewed more than 50 million times, just 12 hours after it was first posted. It contains graphic footage of the man’s injuries and.
The video shows a man who was pushed and the police moving past him as the man is bleeding from ear to ear. Two police officers were suspended without pay, after the video was posted.
One of them, identified as Aaron Torgalski, because his name tag is visible in the video. According to WBFO, Torgalski, one of 19 new recruits sworn into police academy training in August 2014.
For firing Torgalski, a change.org petition has generated more than 290,000 signatures.
Celebrities like Seth Rogen, Kacey Musgraves, Jim Gaffigan, Ice-T, Ice Cube, Busy Philipps, Patricia Arquette, Tom Morello, Kumail Nanjiani and Maren Morris shared their reactions on social media. Many wanting Torgalski fired from his job.
Twitter Rant
This moment has not gone unnoticed even by celebrities. Celebrities have shared their outrage, as the protest goes on. Kumail Ninjiani, who starred In Eternals, was the first to address the video.
He wrote on Twitter:
“Re: that awful video. Buffalo PD officially said that the man tripped & fell. If we didn’t have video there would have been no accountability. Why? Because one “bad apple” pushed him down but 20 “good apples” would let him get away with it. It’s systemic.”
An outrageous Seth shared the clip and wrote: “Again if they are doing this to old white men ON camera, imagine what the f**k is happening off camera.”
Country singer Kacey Musgraves posted the video on social media with a warning:
“**Warning** This is highly disturbing, unacceptable, and needs explaining @BPDAlerts An elderly man AND NOBODY HELPS HIM!? What the f**k,” she wrote.
The “Golden Hour” singer then added, “I just called Buffalo Police Dept. @BPDAlerts to demand the firing of Officer Aaron Torgalski (the one who seriously hurt the elderly man & wouldn’t help him) They told me to call Buffalo Police HQ about it instead. In case anyone feels as sickened as I do: (716) 851-4444.”
Keke Palmer, who is a part of these protests as well, in Los Angeles said: “Horrible”, and reshared the video of the police brutality.
Celebrities demanding justice
Will & Grace star, Debra Messing called out the officials, requesting that the officers be fired and not just suspended.
She wrote:
‘Officer Torgalski must be FIRED immediately. And pray to God this gentleman pulls through. Savagery. Nothing less.’
Director Matthew Cherry chimed in, as he added: ‘Push him down for no reason. Head just leaking and they just walk right past him. F**k these cops man.’
Eugene Lee Yang, film maker, shared a lengthy twitter thread as well. He wrote:
“That video. It’s of a peaceful situation where an elderly man is shoved to the ground by a group of Buffalo police where he cracks his head and begins to bleed out with no one rushing to his aid. I won’t retweet it because that sentence alone should make you beyond angry.’
He continued to describe how the man received attention after the protesters started screaming, who was just aproaching the police to ask a question. Yang wrote:
‘A few military personnel then arrive to offer what I can only hope is medical aid. ‘We’ve seen too many horrific videos capturing police brutality. There’s something particularly awful about the sound of the man’s head hitting the pavement surrounded by relative quiet that compelled me to write what I watched. I refuse to be desensitized by it. It’s nauseating.”
This comes after the viral video posted on social media, after a police officer presses his knee down on George Floyd’s neck. Demanding justice for people who due to the colour of their skin, lose their lives.
