Local news outlet WIVB reports that police said a man was injured when he tripped and fell. Later, as the video circulated widely online, a WIVB reporter tweeted that Buffalo Police Capt. Jeff Rinaldo said Internal Affairs had immediately opened an investigation at the order of the police commissioner.
State police medics gave the man aid, Rinaldo said, according to the reporter.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted Thursday night that he’d seen the videos in which an “older protesters appears to have been shoved by police” before suffering “a serious head injury.”
“It sickens me,” Poloncarz wrote shortly before 10:30 p.m., saying he’s confirmed the man is at Erie County Medical Center in stable condition