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Martin Gugino, the 75-year-old protester in Buffalo, suffered serious injuries after he was shown on video being shoved to the ground by police, suffering an injury as blood was visibly pouring out of the back of his head.
In response, unprompted, Trump - without providing any evidence - tweeted that Gugino’s fall could be a “set up” with ties to the anti-fascist movement Antifa. Trump and other Republicans have sought to blame violence that has flared at some protests on Antifa, although there has been no evidence by law authorities that Antifa has played a role in any protests.
“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur," Trump tweeted. "75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”
On Wednesday, June 10, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that “It’s not a baseless conspiracy – no not at all. I won’t acknowledge that.”
“The president was asking questions about an interaction and a video clip that he saw and the president has the right to ask those,” she said. “The president does not regret standing up for law enforcement men and women across this country.
“The president was raising questions based on a report that he saw' when he retweeted a report claiming the man, Martin Gugino, might be an ANTIFA provocateur,” McEnany said on Fox and Friends.
Gugino's attorney called Trump's statement was “dark, dangerous, and untrue," according to Law & Crime.
Attorney Kelly V. Zarcone said her client was "a typical Western New Yorker who loves his family. No one from law enforcement has even suggested otherwise, so we are at a loss as to why the president of the United States would make such dark, dangerous, and untrue accusations against him."
Cuomo said that “the Trump tweet, it surprises me, even after all of the tweets he has done. I read the tweets and you get to a point where you think nothing can surprise you. Then you get surprised again. Then you get shocked again.
“How reckless, how irresponsible, how mean, how crude,” he said. “I mean, if there was ever a reprehensible, dumb comment, and from the president of the United States.
“At this moment of anguish and anger, what does he do? Puts gasoline on the fire. If there was ever, if he ever feels a moment of decency, he should apologize for that tweet, because it is wholly unacceptable.”
Cuomo went on to reiterate his disgust, saying that the President of the United States is supposed to be a responsible person. Gugino remains hospitalized, but is now out of intensive care.
“The president tweets that this man may have been a member of Antifa, and he fell harder than he was pushed,” he said. “Could be a setup. It's all made up, it's all fabricated, there's no fact to any of it.
“He accuses this man of being associated with Antifa, no proof whatsoever. No fact, just an assertion. He fell harder than he was pushed. In the video, you see him pushed, and you see a 75-year-old man fall backward and hit his head on the pavement.”
Cuomo continued: “not a piece of proof, totally, personally disparaging, and in a moment when the man is still in the hospital, show some decency, show some humanity, show some fairness. You're the president of the United States."
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