Elderly Black Lives Matter protester injured by police and trolled by Trump in hiding after death threats
'In order to avoid the risk, Martin will be recovering in an undisclosed location when he is released from the hospital'
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Your support makes all the difference.Martin Gugino, the protester shoved to the ground by Buffalo police officers during the George Floyd protests, is recuperating in a secret location due to threats he's received.
Mr Gugino's attorney said on Thursday that his client had received "concerning and threatening messages and one letter" since he was assaulted by police officers in Buffalo.
The 75-year activist was seen in a viral video being shoved by a police officer. After hitting the ground, Mr Gugino lay unmoving, blood seeping from his ear. The officers marched by and ignored him, even after becoming aware of the blood. At one point, one officer actively prevents another officer from stopping to help.
Days after the video began circulating online, President Donald Trump tweeted out a conspiracy theory that Mr Gugino could have been an "antifa provocateur" who was trying to "scan police communications in order to black out the equipment."
The president's tweet – as well as other conspiracy theories alleging that Mr Gugino, a Catholic peace activist, was a plant or he was faking his injuries – has made the elderly activist a target of the far right.
His lawyer said the seriousness of the threats was still being determined.
"It is not clear that these are credible death threats. In order to avoid the risk, Martin will be recovering in an undisclosed location when he is released from the hospital. We do not expect that to happen for a good week, so things could change," Kelly Zarcone said.
Mr Gugino has been hospitalised since his injury, with recent reports suggesting he suffered a brain injury and hasn't been able to walk.
The police officers who shoved him, Robert McCabe and Aaron Togalski, were suspended from the Buffalo police department and were charged with assault. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Following their suspension, 57 of their fellow officers resigned their assignments on the Buffalo police department's emergency response team. Originally the resignations were publicised as an act of solidarity by the police union representing the department, but officers later refuted that claim, instead attributing the mass resignations to fears that the union wouldn't cover their legal fees if they were sued over actions they took in the George Floyd protests.
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