Thursday’s demonstration video shows a row of officers walking towards the man and two pushing him. His head bleeds on the sidewalk as the officers pass him by, some look at him.
The two officers were suspended without pay.
The man’s identity, Martin Gugino, was confirmed by Cuomo’s office on Friday. Gugino is hospitalized in serious but stable conditions, authorities said Friday.
Based on the initial video, police released a statement saying Gugino stumbled and fell, Buffalo Police Department spokesman Mike DeGeorge told CNN.
After more videos were made available, the police edited this statement and police commissioner Byron Lockwood suspended officers and opened an investigation, he said.
“The department moved quickly” and “corrected” the information, DeGeorge said.
Mayor Byron Brown called the incident “daunting” and said his thoughts were with Gugino.
Prosecutors are investigating, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office tweeted.
Gugino she had a head injury and was unable to make a statement to investigators on Thursday evening, the tweet said.
Cuomo said officers should be fired and prosecutors should move “fairly but quickly”.
“When I saw the video, I got sick to my stomach,” said Cuomo. “I would encourage the district attorney not to do what happened in Minneapolis, which caused the delay itself,” said the governor, adding: “People don’t want to wander. They are upset and want answers.”
Previously on Twitter, he said: “This incident is totally unjustified and absolutely shameful … Police officers must enforce – NON-ABUSE – the law.”
Cuomo said he spoke to Gugino.
“Fortunately he’s alive,” Cuomo said on Friday at his daily press conference in Albany. “See that video and disturb your basic sense of decency and humanity.”
Cuomo also launched attacks on police officers, saying, “You have police incidents that get hit with bricks on the head. Who are we?”
CNN’s Laura Dolan contributed to this report.
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