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Thanks to Mitch Wagner for the find!
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The Buffalo-based NPR station WBFO posted the video above and reported this story last night:
Shortly after Buffalo’s curfew started Thursday evening, city police and State Police swept through the area of Niagara Square directly in front of City Hall to clear the area where a protest was finishing. An unidentified, 75-year-old man was shoved by two officers in the line. The man lost his balance and fell to the pavement, audibly hitting his head with blood running out from under his head.
A Buffalo Police spokesman issued a statement at 8:50 p.m. Thursday saying “a 5th person was arrested during a skirmish with other protestors and also charged with disorderly conduct. During that skirmish involving protestors, one person was injured when he tripped & fell.“
It happened:
- In a public place — in Niagara Square, just outside Buffalo’s city hall,
- In front of many witnesses, including the person who shot the video, and
- In front of a number of journalists…
…and yet the Buffalo Police Department’s first statement was to say that the man “tripped & fell” at 8:50 p.m..
At 9:13 p.m., WBFO posted the video above, showing the the police’s statement was a lie. Shortly afterwards, the police announced that they were starting an Internal Affairs investigation and that the two officers involved were immediately suspended without pay.
This morning, the Buffalo Police are “explaining” the “tripped & fell” statement — they’re backpedaling so hard that it might count as cardio. If only they put as much effort into doing their jobs properly.
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Irony of the day, part two
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The people of Brookfield — this fine young lady excepted — have made their priorities clear.
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Irony of the day, part one
C’mon, America — I don’t have to spell it out for you, do I?
Based on Ian Goodrum’s tweet. Thanks to Ellen Shapiro for the find!
Lanfranco Pescante’s Instagram post. He seems a little too eager to kill, and waaaay more concerned about the flag than the old man.
Crazy times like this often lead to rising tempers, and rising tempers sometimes lead to career-limiting moves on social media. Case in point: Lanfranco Pescante, co-owner of Tampa’s Nocturnal Hospitality Group (which owns Franklin Manor, Osteria, Mole y Abuela, Mision Lago Estate, and Shibui), went a little too far on Instagram. It’s one thing to defend the flag and old man who got hurt carrying it at a protest, and it’s another thing to go completely unhinged about it on social media and call for people to get shot:
Pescante wrote all this in an argument with the Instagram account @officialthebody, whose posts have been in support of protesters and pointing them to resources.
It didn’t work out well for him. Here’s what Carlos “Carlos Eats” Hernandez — one of my go-to guys for local news — posted soon after:
- WFLA: Franklin Manor co-owner steps down after ‘just shoot them all’ comment about protesters
- Creative Loafing: Co-owner of Tampa’s Nocturnal Group apologizes after violent and racist comments surface online [UPDATE: Lanfranco Pescante has stepped down]
- Tampa Bay Times: Co-owner of Franklin Manor, other Tampa restaurants steps down after his posts spark outrage
The Tampa Bay Times article is worth it, just for the new ironic twist that Pescante’s t-shirt in his file photo provides. It just begged for a caption:
Thanks to Roberto Torres for the find!
Tap the image to see the Satanism at full size.
Oliver Willis, O-dubs, you are so right. And yes, this is a real photo that they intentionally released:
Tap the image to see the original tweet.
I should close this article with an appropriate musical number: