"A longtime peace activist" is how every major news agency described Martin Gugino, a 75-year-old professional protester hospitalized after falling backward from being pushed by two Buffalo police officers. President Trump called him something else: an "ANTIFA provocateur" and asked whether the incident was "a setup." Everyone pounced on Trump for going after "an old man," including The Drudge Report.
But what if President Trump was right?
According to a trusted source, Gugino told the officers, "you're going to arrest me, and I'm going to take you to the Supreme Court" before the push and fall incident with the two Buffalo officers. Then, as the 57 officers started moving the line forwards to secure the plaza, on orders from above, Martin Gugino began deliberately walking towards the officer line, directly into it, presumably to effectuate his plan of being arrested. Instead, the officers yelled at him to move out of the way and pushed him back when he did not listen. The push caused Gugino to trip over his feet, and he fell backward, hitting his head on the pavement.
The mayor explained that the plaza was ordered to be cleared because it was after curfew and there was "conflict among protesters, and there was a danger of fights breaking out, and police felt it was important to clear that scene for the safety of protesters." Earlier that day, Buffalo saw violence, looting, and fires, while violent protestors battered police officers. All the while, politicians and the media called it "peaceful protesting." "That's just not true," stated another source. "That whole week, officers had bricks thrown at them, rocks, bottles, fluids; officers were spat on, there was looting, there were fires nearby."
What was Gugino doing with his hands and phone as he approached the officers? President Trump tweeted that Gugino was attempting "to scan police communications in order to blackout the equipment ... [w]as aiming scanner," before he was pushed. It indeed appears in the video that Gugino is holding a phone in his right hand and is suspiciously moving it up and down the officers' chests. Most mainstream media attacked Trump's statements as peddling conspiracy theories. We might never know with certainty because, according to the second source, the police officers were "ordered not to arrest" Gugino, which prevented Buffalo Police from seizing and analyzing the equipment. "The city dropped the ball," stated the source.
Before the incident, Martin Gugino tweeted "f*ck the police" and the other protestors posted videos of him agitating the younger protestors, one even saying that Gugino was "looking to get punched in the face," that Gugino "said he came down here for fun." President Trump's use of the term "provocateur" appears spot-on.
Moreover, while many assumed that the elderly protestor was out cold because he didn't move after falling down, the sources advised that this isn't true, that he was speaking on his cell phone while being placed in the ambulance. Photos circulating on social media of Gugino talking on his phone with his head bandaged are real.
According to the second source, there is an ongoing federal investigation of the situation. "This was so well organized. This is beyond Buffalo." Antifa came in to agitate and organize, explained the source. According to OANN, Martin was involved with Antifa and other anarchy groups online.
"Buffalo Police have a great relationship with the community, and that's what makes me really mad. [Antifa] is coming in from out of town with ulterior motives and just kill it. How does Buffalo repair that?" the source lamented.
In the meantime, two Buffalo officers are facing criminal charges for following orders and doing their jobs.