CW // Police Violence

Around 12:30 AM on July 9th, Buffalo Police Officers Ronald Ammerman and Jonathan Crawford pulled over Dae'von Roberts, a 25 year old Black man, for speeding and having tinted windows on the East Side of Buffalo. Roberts was driving a family members vehicle and had a 6 year old in the front seat.

Ammerman asked Roberts for his license which he explained he didn't have. He did provide the officer with a photo of his Georgia State ID on his phone. The officer went back to the police vehicle to check the ID. When the officer returned, he told Roberts that it wasn't a valid driver's license in New York State, even though Roberts had explained he lived in Georgia.

Ammerman then told Roberts that he was going to run his name a different way. Without consent for a search, the officer proceeded to reach his arm through the open drivers side window and opened Robert's door. The officer continued to hold the door open and told Roberts to put his phone down. As Roberts put his phone down he put the vehicle in drive. The officer continued to hold onto the door that he had just opened as Roberts accelerated. Ammerman faught Roberts for control of the vehicle, pulled out his gun while still holding on to the vehicle, and fired multiple rounds towards Roberts and in the same direction of the 6 year old child. Roberts tried to push Ammerman off as he fired. He then lunged towards the direction of the gun fire throwing himself in the opposite direction of the child into the middle of the street.

Roberts continued to bleed out in the street. He was transported to Erie County Medical Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Outcome

Both officers are on mandatory administrative leave while the police investigates itself. The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has opened a special investigation into the killing of Dae'von.

Dae'von Roberts is half-brother of Jaylen Griffin who went missing in 2020. Despite a relentless search by family and community and being labeled a "runaway," Jaylen was found deceased in the attic of a home only 5 miles from his home with a history of dead bodies four years after he went missing. Jaylen appeared to have been deceased for a considerable amount of time. Jaylen and Dae'von’s mother, passed away in September from what is described as a “broken heart.”

Individuals organized outside of Hochstetter Hall at UB's North Campus to call for a ceasefire to the genocide in Gaza and for the University at Buffalo and the UB Foundation to divest from Israel. Specifically, SUNY Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) “wants financial divestment of all stocks, funds, partnerships, endowments and other monetary instruments from companies complicit in human rights abuse in Palestine, an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and universities, and they demand financial investments into education on Palestinian culture, literature, social movements, history and diaspora.”

After arriving at Capen Hall, protesters began setting up tents on the lawn next to Hochstetter Hall. An officer speaking through a loudspeaker ordered the protesters to disassemble those tents and place them on a nearby sidewalk within 20 minutes or face arrest. They cited a university policy from 2020 that “prohibits indoor and outdoor encampments” and “overnight assemblies.” Three students driving a U-Haul van with additional wooden pallets for the encampment were ordered to drive away from the crowd.

In response to the order to break up the camp, protesters booed the officers, shouting that UB was “our school” and that they were “legally allowed to remain for 12 hours.” The protesters still complied with the police order and removed their tents, transitioning to a sit-in.

At 8 p.m., police ordered the protesters gathered outside of Hochstetter to disperse before 8:22 p.m. or face arrest. Shortly after, University Campus Police, New York State Police, Erie County Sheriff Deputies, Buffalo Police, Amherst Police, Kenmore Police, both town and city Tonawanda Police, Lancaster Police, Cheektowaga Police, Orchard Park Police, West Seneca Police and Evans Police descended on the sit-in specifically targeting Muslim students who were wrapping up prayers. A UB spokesperson said that UB requested the outside officers come “as a precaution” and to “provide UPD with additional support if needed.”

Most protesters remained in place with locked arms as police closed in, chanting “free Palestine” and “end genocide.” Others were arrested and placed into marked police cars or onto a UB Stampede bus. Police chased the crowd toward Mary Talbert Way, continuing to make violent arrests. Multiple officers tackled protesters. One officer was filmed pushing a demonstrator’s face into the ground.

There was a ratio of at least 2:1 cop:protester. A feme presenting student's hijab was unraveled as she was forcibly restrained. One protestor's head was slammed into a door and had to be treated at the hospital for his injuries. A 67 year old man also had to be treated at the hospital for an injury to his arm.

One non-UPD officer pushed a Spectrum editor attempting to film the arrests and told him to "get the f—k out of here." When the editor identified himself as media, the officer said, "I don't care."

A small number of protesters briefly barricaded themselves in Capen Hall, which houses many of UB’s administrative offices. A Stampede bus carrying roughly 10 detained protesters left campus around 9 p.m. The protesters inside could be heard chanting “free Palestine” as the bus drove by Hochstetter. After protesters had largely dispersed, police returned to the site of the attempted encampment and Founders Plaza. They confiscated belongings left at the site as evidence like granola bars.

Though there were no announced counter-protests, some Jewish Student Union members laughed at the anti-genocide demonstrators. One did push-ups next to the protest. While police were arresting demonstrators, two individuals held up an Israeli flag. One shouted, “F—k those terrorists.”

Outcome

UB claimed 15 arrests were made. Protest organizers said that the actual number was 18. According to UB, the charges that were filed included:

• Loitering

• Trespassing

• Disorderly conduct

• Resisting arrest

All those who faced charges, have had them dismissed.

9 participants of the protest filed a Notice of Claim against Erie County, Erie County Sheriff's Office, the Town of Amherst, the Amherst Police Department, the City of Buffalo, the City of Buffalo Police Department, the Village of Kenmore, the Kenmore Police Department, the Town of Tonawanda, the Town of Tonawanda Police Department, the City of Tonawanda, the City of Tonawanda Police Department, the Town of Hamburg, the Town of Hamburg Police Department, the Village of Hamburg, the Village of Hamburg Police Department, Buffalo Police Officer Sean Ford, Buffalo Police Officer Michael Maritato, Buffalo Police Officer Bradley Caruana, and Police Officers John Doe #1-60 for personal injuries and civil rights violations, loss of income and medical expenses, equitable damages, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees and costs for the police brutality and violation of protected First Amendment Rights they sustained on May 1st, 2024.

One UB student said: "I feel like what they teach us in the class, and what they've taught us our whole lives about how we have freedom of speech, how we're in a democracy, just went out the window. We are out here trying to exercise our rights and those rights are being violated. It makes me feel angry against the (UB) president because I'm genuinely wondering, 'Where are you?' Your students are being violently arrested."

Another student said: "I'm hoping that at some point UB divests, I hope at some point that we see some change, but this is the situation right now and we have to fight somehow."

CW: Quentin Suttles sustained serious personal injuries when Buffalo Police Officers used excessive force and brutally beat Mr. Suttles after pulling him over and arresting him.

Noah Giusiana attended a late-night film at a Regal Cinema in Buffalo, NY with his younger brother. While exiting the movie theater, Giusiana and his brother were “horsing around” and wrestling outside the theater. Giusiana was confronted by a Regal Cinema assistant manager and a brief altercation ensued.

Seconds later, Noah Giusiana was grabbed by off-duty Buffalo Police Officer Mark Andrzejak, who was working as a Regal Cinema security officer at the time. Officer Andrzejak then slammed Giusiana to the sidewalk. An eyewitness heard Giusiana’s head crack when it struck the sidewalk and said that he appeared unconscious as he was lying still, facedown on the ground.

The Buffalo Police department arrived at the scene and placed Giusiana under arrest. The arresting officer at the scene, Ronald J. Ammerman testified that he was never told Giusiana’s head struck the sidewalk. Officer Ammerman’s testimony also revealed that Mark Andrzejak gave false statements regarding Mr. Giusiana’s actions.

AMR attendants asked Giusiana a series of questions and then cleared him to be taken by the Buffalo Police to Central Booking. A cellblock video shows that Noah Giusiana vomited in a sink and slowly slumped to the floor of his cell in Buffalo Police Central Booking around 6:44 AM on the morning of his arrest. Shortly after 9:00 AM, Mr. Giusiana was found unresponsive, lying on the floor of this holding cell. An ambulance was then called and Giusiana was rushed to Erie County Medical Center, where he underwent emergency brain surgery.

Noah Giusiana survived after undergoing emergency brain surgery. However, he is nearly 50% blind, has trouble with his memory, and suffers from other cognitive impairments.

Outcome

After doctors said Noah Giusiana might not live, police charged Jonah Giusiana on June 8, 2017, with felony assault, “for recklessly causing injury” to his brother. Police arrested Jonah while he was visiting his brother at the hospital. An Erie County grand jury reviewed the case, but did not indict Jonah Giusiana. The violations against both brothers were also dropped.

The Buffalo Police Internal Affairs unit began an investigation into whether Andrzejak had used unnecessary force and caused Giusiana’s brain injury. Andrzejak was “exonerated” by the police department. Andrzejak remains a police officer.

Noah Giusiana sued the City of Buffalo, the Buffalo Police Department, seven police officers, Regal Cinemas, off-duty officer Mark Andrzejak, AMR, and two ambulance attendants. Mr. Giusiana’s lawsuit was because the defendants falsely arrested him, negligently caused his injuries, denied him medical care in a timely manner, committed medical malpractice, and failed to train their employees properly.

The Buffalo Common Council approved the payment to Giusiana for $1.05 Million. The remainder of the $2.9 million settlement came from other defendants.

Tremel Stone was shot while his back was facing Officer Ron Ammerman and he was running away. Stone stated that the only reason he ran was because the two officers are well known for planting evidence. Wendy Collier and Ron Ammerman did plant a gun on Stone that was used to charge him with possession of weapon

Outcome

With discovery that was provided during a civil suit, it became clear that the officers conspired to plant evidence on Stone. A civil suit against the City of Buffalo and officers involved for damages was settled for $150,000.

An expert affidavit was submitted by Dannie Sherman, a former law enforcement officer and lead investigator in more than 800 cases. His opinion, with a reasonable degree of certainty, was that the shooting was not justified; there was a cover up with planted evidence with an overall lax review, and the planted evidence was tolerated by the Buffalo Police Department. He states that the level of complaints against Ammerman and Collier is not at all the norm.