SoylentNews

It was just a year ago that video shot by a Buffalo public broadcast reporter went viral -- 75 year old peaceful protester Martin Gugino was shoved by a Buffalo cop, fell and hit his head. In a nuanced followup story today, the Buffalo News talks with retired computer programmer Gugino:

https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/one-year-later-martin-gugino-looks-back-and-hopes-he-made-a-difference/article_a8aeed9a-c47d-11eb-8ad7-73d2819f95f9.html [buffalonews.com]
or https://archive.is/I9GwZ [archive.is]

Martin Gugino says he didn't go to Buffalo City Hall one year ago today to cause a scene.

He wasn't there to get arrested, although given his experiences protesting around the country, he thought it might be a possibility.

He said he wasn't planning on getting hurt.

And he certainly had no idea that he would become the unwitting star of a viral video that rocketed around the world drawing millions of views and more attention to the question of what policing is supposed to be.

...... (jump to end)

Looking back, he said during the interview, he wouldn't do it again.

"No, I wouldn't," Gugino said. "It's like the guy who got run over by a nuclear train during a nuclear resistance. He was laying on the tracks and they didn't slow down or stop and he got his legs cut off. They were saying, 'Would you do it again?' 'Well, I don't have legs. Why would I do it again? I don't have legs.' "

But if he knew then what he knows now, Gugino said, he'd do differently.

"I'd put my helmet on," he said. [elsewhere in the story it mentions that he was carrying his motorcycle helmet.]

Still, he believes his act of civil disobedience made a difference.

"It made a difference to me," Gugino said outside City Hall. "That counts. And a couple of kids wrote me to say it made a difference to them. That's all I want."

This is the reason I subscribe to my local news paper -- in depth local reporting that I'm very unlikely to get from "social media", TV, or any other place.

Original Submission