Trump tries to smear Martin Gugino, Catholic Peace Activist

[PetraG]

Mr. Gugino is a baptized Catholic. He supports organizations that oppose Catholic teaching, on issues like abortion. He has on social media expressed hatred of police officers. (Not just hatred of “injustice”)

It does not matter if he just robbed a bank with a swastika tattooed on his forehead or just pitched himself out of a third-story window. He had just hit his head on the pavement and no one but the police officers standing there could render aid. People were yelling that the guy was bleeding. They just left him laying there. Why? Because they were afraid he would injure them? I don’t think so.

Let’s pray for Mr. Gugino’s recovery but don’t make him into something he’s not.

Defend leaving him on there on the pavement when there was literally no one else allowed to tend to him and then suggest praying for him?

This is why I think it is ludicrous to say that the police need less funding. They’re expected to do a lot. That is right, they need to be able to do a lot, but they need enough staff and enough funding to do it.

I agree, I do not see an assault charge out of that shove.

 

[Freddy]

To support the police in a difficult situation could be commended in some cases. This one was borderline. But to attempt to paint this guy as some sort of fascist agitator as a means of making a political point is utterly reprehensible.

And that the one man we should be expecting to help bring the country together at times like these adds fuel to the fire is simply not credible.

 

[OurLadyofSorrows]

To support the police in a difficult situation could be commended in some cases. This one was borderline. But to attempt to paint this guys as some sort of fascist agitator as a means of making a political point is utterly reprehensible.

And that the one man we should be expecting to help bring the country together at times like these adds fuel to the fire is simply not credible.

I totally :clap:t5: agree Freddy.

 

[sealabeag]

 

[VonDerTann]

I respectfully disagree.

We are what our actions say we are.
Trump has consistently appointed conservative federal judges in an effort to remake the federal bench into a much more pro-life-friendly judiciary. He’s the only sitting president to attend the march for life. He’s pro-life, certainly moreso than either of the Bushes.

 

[MikeInVA]

They just left him laying there. Why? Because they were afraid he would injure them? I don’t think so.

When I watched the video I saw that one of the policemen that pushed him tried to stop, but was told to keep going. I couldn’t see what was beyond the camera frame, but I think there was a larger group beyond this man that the police were concerned with. The National Guardsman behind the first line of policemen stopped to render aid about 10 seconds after the first policeman passed him.

 

[commenter]

We don’t know if police saw bleeding, they saw a man talking calmly on cell phone.

 

[silentwitness]

I wondered what the man Gugino was doing approaching the police.

That said, police have to be handling senior citizens in a gentle way. There appeared to be no immediate intimidating crowds and the man was not a physical threat.

If he was attempting to interfere with police equipment then he needed to be gently taken into custody. Perhaps the policeman was pumping himself up for an upcoming confrontation with protestors but the shoving of the man was wrong on many fronts.

The man looked to lose his balance because of his elderly nature and clearly hit his head.

I am very much on the Trump side but when an elderly man is pushed to the ground by police where he hits his head, my immediate reaction is that a bit of respect and care for the elderly should be the first response.

 

[MikeInVA]

There appeared to be no distracting crowds and the man was not a physical threat.

I agree that he was not a threat, but the way the line moved forward after he fell looked like the police were focused on a larger crowd and he was in the way.

 

[F_Marturana]

Who was talking in the phone?

I saw the video numerous times. Mr. Gugino wasn’t taking on the phone. Who was?

 

[PetraG]

When I watched the video I saw that one of the policemen that pushed him tried to stop, but was told to keep going. I couldn’t see what was beyond the camera frame, but I think there was a larger group beyond this man that the police were concerned with. The National Guardsman behind the first line of policemen stopped to render aid about 10 seconds after the first policeman passed him.

This is similar to the George Floyd case, in which the junior officers who suggested the treatment he was getting was not safe and not necessary for officer safety were over-ruled. This kind of structure used to prevail in airplane cockpits and hospitals, too. Now it is different–that is, both senior pilots and doctors can be openly questioned about whether their decision-making is in keeping with established protocol–and both airline safety and medical care are better for it.

We don’t know if police saw bleeding, they saw a man talking calmly on cell phone.

You can hear the bystanders trying to tell them that he was bleeding out of his ear.

 

[goout]

But, but, he is “pro-life”.

to be accurate: he appoints pro life justices and speaks positively about stopping abortion.
Whether he is pro life in his heart I don’t know.

Anyone have special readings in that area? Maybe someone here is a Donald Whisperer.

 

[goout]

I am sorry the man was hurt, but he approached a moving police line designed to clear an area.
And the results are supposed to be…what?
What he did was not motivated toward a peaceful outcome. The martyrization of people is really getting ridiculous.

 

[Shakuhachi]

I am sorry the man was hurt, but he approached a moving police line designed to clear an area.
And the results are supposed to be…what?

A cracked head, of course.

 

[tomarin]

I think this is unrealistic, sad though it is to say. This is precisely why the 52 officers resigned. When they are given orders to clear the area, that is what they do, regardless of the age or frailty of the civilians in the area. They’re not there to offer medical assistance. They would probably knock over a disabled person in a wheelchair if told to clear the area (and that person was in the way).

 

[goout]

goout:

I am sorry the man was hurt, but he approached a moving police line designed to clear an area.
And the results are supposed to be…what?

A cracked head, of course.

Common sense would seem to indicate that if you intentionally tangle with a line of armed men trying to clear an area bad things are going to happen.
But common sense? Of course not, in today’s world emotion and appearance are our idols.

 

[neophyte]

People were yelling that the guy was bleeding. They just left him laying there. Why?

As a first responder, I’d say that at least one reason is that police aren’t trained in outdoor emergency care, and in some cases it’s better for the patient to be undisturbed until trained people get there. With the low level of external bleeding combined with the probability of cranial injury, this looks to me like such a case.

Look carefully at the video: the officer’s initial reaction was to check the guy out, but he was (correctly) stopped by another officer. The audio clearly reveals that EMS was nearby. Absolutely, the correct thing for the police to do was to stand aside until properly trained responders arrived.

 

[PetraG]

As a first responder, I’d say that at least one reason is that police aren’t trained in outdoor emergency care, and in some cases it’s better for the patient to be undisturbed until trained people get there. With the low level of external bleeding combined with the probability of cranial injury, this looks to me like such a case.

I think people are looking for a simple, “Are you OK? That was a nasty fall. Please stay calm and stay still, sir. I’ll stay with you so nothing happens to you. You are bleeding from your ear, so we’ve called an ambulance.” We’re not looking for professional medical care, but just the sort of thing a fellow human being would normally do when they see someone injured, the kind of thing you’d want from a teacher or anyone else who had authority over the situation.

I understand that the “proper thing” in the protocol sense might be to not engage, but isn’t there something wrong with it, in that case? Should people not get the idea that police do care whether they are injured or not? Why should this only come from EMS? It would be like a high school where only your counselors tell you that they care whether or not you succeed, but the teachers don’t.

Otherwise, the police have “to protect and to serve” on the sides of their cars but they’re forbidden from expressing that in any personal way. That doesn’t work; it sets up a purely adversarial relationship between the police and the public.

 

[Shakuhachi]

Oh come on. Look at the video again, They pushed a 76 year old man off balance. Sound like common sense?

 

[LiveSkype]

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:19-23

If I were to base Trump’s actions against what the Apostle Paul wrote here, I’d say that his actions would be more in line with the works of the flesh than the Fruits of the Spirit. Sure, he might be nice every once in a while, but the fact that he is willing to inflict ill-will towards a man he doesn’t even know or lambast any and all who disagree with him certainly isn’t a sign of gentleness or self-control, that’s for sure!