Two Buffalo, N.Y., police officers were placed on administrative leave after they pushed an elderly man to the ground Thursday (June 4), causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and lay there bleeding.

The incident was caught on video by a reporter from local public radio station WBFO and uploaded on their website and Twitter. The unidentified 75-year-old white man was seen approaching an advancing group of officers clad in riot-gear shortly before the city’s 9:00 p.m. curfew went into effect.

One of the officers then pushed him with a baton and another one with his hand, knocking him to the ground ground, audibly hitting his head, the station reported. “He’s bleeding out of his ears!” a bystander could be heard shouting. “You better get an ambulance for him,” said another as an officer bent down to check on the unconscious man.

Warning: video contains disturbing visuals.

The man was rushed to ECMC Hospital in Buffalo, where he was declared “stable but serious,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown wrote on Twitter. “Tonight’s event is disheartening,” he said. “My thoughts are with the victim tonight.”

The shocking video spurred law enforcement to launch an internal investigation. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo posted called the incident "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful" in a tweet.

The order to suspend the cops came immediately after the video was brought to the notice of Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood.

WKBW-TV reported, citing police, that four people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for blocking traffic in the area. Another person was arrested during a "skirmish with other protesters" and was charged with disorderly conduct.

Law enforcement initially said that the man in the video “tripped and fell” to cover up possible misconduct by the officers. "A fifth person was arrested during a skirmish with other protestors and also charged with disorderly conduct. During that skirmish involving protestors, one person was injured when he tripped and fell," a police spokesperson said in a statement.

The incident happened soon after protests in the area over the death of George Floyd allegedly at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25 came to and end.

A man kneels in front of military police near the White House to protest the death of George Floyd
A man kneels in front of military police near the White House to protest the death of George Floyd AFP / Olivier DOULIERY
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