BUFFALO, N.Y. — Protests continued in Niagara Square on a day where two suspended Buffalo Police officers were formally charged with assault.
Aaron Torgalski, 39, and Robert McCabe, 32, were both virtually arraigned Saturday morning with assault in the second degree, a Class D felony. Those charges were filed two days after a video that went viral captured showing them shoving a 75-year-old man to the ground in front of Buffalo City Hall.
That square was scene of more protests on Saturday evening.
A group met Saturday afternoon at MLK Park in what organizers billed as a peace vigil.
The event included something that has become a part of a lot of these events, including nine minutes of silence to represent the 8 minutes, 46 seconds that a Minneapolis Police officer had his knee pressed to the back of George Floyd's neck before he died on May 25.
In Niagara Square, a peaceful and orderly evening protest grew rapidly. There were chants of "Black Lives Matter" and "no justice, no peace" there. New York State Police were on the scene, but staying a distance away.
A large group then moved north to Johnson Square, where everyone took a knee. After that brief stop, the group then traveled south and marched back to Niagara Square once more.
Those protesters left City Hall before 9 p.m., though some returned to the scene an hour later.
Earlier, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and leaders from seven activist groups met for four hours Saturday to discuss police and policy reforms.
On Friday, the protests went through parts of Allentown and made it back to Niagara Square, despite the weeklong 8 p.m. curfew.
