Council members on Macy: 'Not in his character'

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN)......Despite a damning three-second amateur-shot video, members of the Buffalo Common Council are loathe to rush to any judgment when it comes a Saturday night incident on Chippewa Street that saw Deputy Police Commissioner Craig Macy push a female pedestrian to the ground.

The video surfaced Monday afternoon on various social media sites and later, Police Commissioner Erika Shields said the video was "concerning."

This much is known: Macy - a well-respected officer and considered a :cops cop" - was leading a police effect to quell a series of fights that occurred late Saturday along Chippewa Street.

Sources said Macy was also part of a police task force overseeing the Taste of Buffalo and a Saturday evening city-sanctioned dance party on Chippewa Street that ended around 10 p.m.

Outside of an emailed statement Shields issued late Monday afternoon, neither she nor any other top level city leaders have addressed the issue.

Common Council members said they were surprised by the video.

"It's just not in his (Macy's) character," said University District Councilman Rasheed N.C. Wyatt.

Wyatt said he is waiting for a more detailed report to come from either Shields or Mayor Sean Ryan before making any final judgments.

Ditto for Leah Halton-Pope, Ellicott District councilwoman and council majority leader.

"The video, itself, is concerning," Halton-Pope said. "But, at the same time we don't what happened either immediately before or afterwards."

The incident comes six years after two Buffalo police officers were caught on video pushing down local peace activist Martin Gugino - then 75 years old - during a June, 2020 George Floyd protest in front of Buffalo City Hall. Gugino suffered a concussion and other injuries.

Gugino died in March of this year while residing in Tampa.

"We need to see the entire incident, in context, before making an judgments," Halton-Pope said.