Cop solidarity in crime is pretty clear

And they always paint themselves as the victims, though it is not they who are killed, maimed, get their skulls cracked, are blinded, or are beaten within an inch of their lives.

2 Buffalo Police Officers Charged With Shoving Protester To Ground

Prosecutors have handed down charges for the two Buffalo Police officers seen apparently shoving an elderly protester in a graphic video earlier this week.

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced Saturday that officers Robert McCabe and Aaron Torgalski are facing one count each of second-degree assault. 

Both officers have pleaded not guilty.

Flynn said the severity of the charge, which carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, is partly because of the age difference between the protester and the men charged. 

In the video, the officers appear to shove and injure Martin Gugino, 75, outside of City Hall as their fellow officers walk past.

"It's black and white in the letter of the law," Flynn told a news conference. 

"It says right there, anyone who's a victim 65 years or older and the perpetrator is [at least] 10 years younger — it's a felony."

After McCabe and Torgalski were suspended without pay, all 57 members of their unit, the Emergency Response Team (ERT), resigned their positions with the team on Friday and sought reassignment within the department.

. . . .

The officers have not publicly come forward to explain the mass resignation. 

John Evans, president of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, told local NBC affiliate WGRZ the reason was "disgust because of the treatment of two of their members, who were simply executing orders."