Last night, two Buffalo police officers were suspended without pay after a deeply disturbing video of them shoving an elderly man to the ground, stepping over his limp body as blood dripped from his ear, surfaced online earlier that day. The man was identified as Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old peace activist and demonstrator, who came up to the group of officers during a protest over the killing of George Floyd. Gugino was hospitalized with a head injury and is in serious but stable condition, reports the New York Times.

In a show of solidarity and egoism, today all 57 officers resigned from the Emergency Response Team—a specialized team devoted specifically to respond to riots—over the officers' suspension. President of the Buffalo police union, John T. Evans, stated that the officers were "simply following orders" to clear the square.“It doesn’t specify clear the square of men, 50 and under or 15 to 40," Evans told The Buffalo News. "They were simply doing their job. I don’t know how much contact was made. He did slip in my estimation. He fell backwards.” I think the video directly contradicts that claim.

Watch the video, taken by WBFO, a Buffalo radio station, of the incident here—warning, it is graphic: