The nation collectively winced in horror as it watched video of a tall, white-haired 75-year old man being shoved to the ground by Buffalo, New York police officers, then gasped as the sound of his head hit the concrete. Those officers walked away, not even calling 911 to help him. Bystanders had to pull out their cell phones to get the older man, Martin Gugino, desperately needed medical help as blood poured out his left ear.
Days later, the President of the United States, without reason, attacked Martin Gugino on social media, smearing him with an insane and totally meritless conspiracy theory. When asked about it, the White House press secretary defending Trump, insisting questions had to be asked and saying the president had every right to do so.
Gugino, contrary to Trump’s suggestion, is not Antifa. He is not a radical or an anarchist. He is a well-known local peace and civil rights activist.
And now he has been diagnosed with a brain injury.
Gugino “suffered a brain injury as a result of the incident, his lawyer revealed Thursday,” NBC 4 New York reports.
“As heartbreaking as it is, his brain is injured and he is well aware of that now. Because of this, he told me that he is not interested in media interviews right now,” Kelly Zarcone said about her client in a statement, as CNN reports. “He feels encouraged and uplifted by the outpouring of support which he has received from so many people all over the globe. It helps.”
“He is looking forward to healing and determining what his ‘new normal’ might look like,” she concluded, suggesting, unsurprisingly, the injury may permanently affect him.