New York's Cuomo 'disgusted' at Trump claim protester 'fell harder than was pushed'

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: New York Governor Cuomo holds a briefing on the coronavirus response at the National Press Club in Washington

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday he was "disgusted" by U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that a 75-year-old man seen in video being pushed by a Buffalo police officer during a protest "fell harder than (he) was pushed."

"President Trump did a tweet today that surprises me even after all the tweets he has done," Cuomo said at his daily news briefing.

"You read his tweets, you get to a point where you say, 'Well, nothing could surprise me - I've seen it all,'" Cuomo added. "And then you get surprised again. You get shocked again. You get disgusted again."

Trump suggested that the protestor, Martin Gugino, had staged his fall at the hands of an officer during a protest last Thursday, and that he could be "an ANTIFA provocateur" who appeared to be trying to electronically black out police communications.

"I watched, he fell harder than was pushed," the president said on Twitter. "Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?"

Two Buffalo officers were arraigned on assault charges on Saturday over the incident, which left Gugino hospitalized.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely and Maria Caspani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Richard Chang)