Martin Gugino, 75, portrayed by prosecutors as the victim of a police-initiated assault, may actually be an agent of a domestic terrorist organization, President Donald Trump alleged Tuesday.
Associates insisted Gugino is a peaceful activist.
Writing Tuesday on Twitter, Trump questioned whether law enforcement officials bear responsibility for the injuries the man received.
Video last Thursday showed two Buffalo, N.Y., police officers shoving Gugino to the ground.
He lay motionless, blood seeping from his ears, as the two officers walked away.
Gugino, hospitalized since the encounter, has been moved out of intensive care, one of his friends told The Washington Post on Tuesday. The two officers in the video have been charged with second-degree assault.
Trump suggested on Twitter that Gugino had exaggerated the amount of contact that actually occurred.
"I watched, he fell harder than was pushed," Trump said in his tweet. "Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?"
That theory was posted on a blog called Conservative Treehouse and was later picked up by One America News Network, a small pro-Trump California outlet, The New York Times reported.
The post suggested that Gugino might be using a police scanner on his phone, which it said is a common tactic of Antifa, a radical movement, the Times wrote.
The blog post provided no evidence that Gugino was actually affiliated with Antifa, the Times said.
Neither did Trump.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfee8byUS2k]
On Twitter, the president said Gugino "could be an ANTIFA provocateur," writing that he was "pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment."
Trump has blamed Antifa for violence that flared in Washington and elsewhere after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
Earlier this month, Trump promised that he would designate Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
Kelly Zarcone, a lawyer for Gugino, told the Times that Trump's depiction of her client is false.
"Martin has always been a peaceful protester because he cares about today's society," she said. "He is also a typical Western New Yorker who loves his family. No one from law enforcement has suggested otherwise, so we're at a loss to understand why the president of the United States would make such a dark, dangerous and untrue accusation against him."
Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the president should "go back to hiding in the bunker instead of tweeting baseless conspiracies about peaceful protesters and further dividing America."
"What are Senate Republicans going to do about this?" Schumer added.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters Tuesday that he thought the tweet was "shocking," the Times reported. It quoted Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the No. 2 Senate Republican, as saying, "It's a serious accusation which should only be made with facts and evidence, and I haven't seen any yet."
Asked through a spokesman about Trump's depiction of Gugino as a possible Antifa agitator, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said, "I haven't seen any evidence to suggest that."
Through a spokesman, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., declined to categorize Gugino.
"Sen. Cotton was not involved with decisions made by law enforcement in Niagra Square and isn't privy to the situational details," his spokesman, James Arnold, said. "He fully supports the rights of Americans to protest peacefully."
Dan Whitfield, the Bella Vista independent hoping to unseat Cotton, rejected Trump's portrayal of the Buffalo activist.
"Martin Gugino was not an Antifa 'provocateur.' He is an American Citizen that deserved more than an aggressive shove by a law enforcement officer trained in deescalation," Whitfield wrote in an email.
"The additional suggestion that Mr. Gugino was attempting to block police communications using a handheld hammer is extremely ignorant. Given how much time our president spends on social media, you would expect him to know what a cell phone looks like," Whitfield wrote.
"Is this the kind of personal treatment Mr. Gugino deserves from the president of the United States of America? I expect more compassion and understanding from the leader of the free world," he added.
House members from Arkansas -- all Republicans -- were also asked to weigh in on Trump's characterization of Gugino.
"I've seen no evidence that Martin Gugino is a member of Antifa," U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs said through a spokesman.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers also declined to classify Gugino as an Antifa agitator.
"I have not seen any evidence, but I know authorities are currently investigating the situation and actions taken," he said through a spokeswoman.
U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford of Jonesboro withheld judgment.
"Congressman Crawford believes the Buffalo Police Department should fully investigate the circumstances and individuals who were involved in the incident over the weekend," his spokeswoman, Sara Robertson, said.
U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock expressed concern about the incident and suggested it's premature to draw conclusions about Gugino's Antifa ties.
"From the video, it appears to be an overreaction by the officers. I note they were charged and I look forward to an official report from the Buffalo Police Department or federal law enforcement as to any Antifa connection," he said in a written statement.
Hill's Democratic opponent, state Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock said Trump's portrayal of Gugino is inaccurate.
"Martin is a peace advocate and Catholic worker bloodied and concussed by police. The president is so out-of-touch in his bunker under the fenced-off White House that he looks to conspiracies on TV for truth," she said in a written statement.
"Instead of going for a campaign photo, the president should go to Martin's church, apologize to his congregation, and ask for forgiveness for this grave sin. Any Republican member of Congress should do the same and take a stand against this despicable behavior," she added.
Womack's Democratic challenger, Celeste Williams of Bella Vista, criticized the police officers for injuring Gugino and Trump for targeting the activist on Twitter.
"I don't know anything about this 75 year old man other than he is a fellow human. Video shows him to be an unarmed, peaceful protester. He was pushed, marched over, and left bleeding on the sidewalk from his head and ears -- signs of a possible skull fracture. Police officers are there to protect and serve the community. They failed Martin Gugino," she said in a written statement.
"As a nurse, I find his injuries very concerning and the lack of response to them unacceptable. As a citizen, I find this police brutality shocking. And as a candidate for U.S. Congress, I find the President's tweet reprehensible and divisive," she said. "Decency and compassion are not partisan issues."
Womack's Libertarian challenger, Michael Kalagias of Rogers, portrayed Gugino as a victim.
"Whether the man was a part of Antifa or not is irrelevant. He was not involved in any violent or criminal activity at the time of his assault by the police officer," he said in an email. "We are having the wrong argument. This is a symptom, and fanning these flames will do us no good. We need to solve the root problems.
"Stop asking police to do the impossible and enforce laws in the streets creating an adversarial relationship between cops and those they should serve. Follow the Constitution. Demilitarize the police. Get a warrant based on probable cause before any searches or seizures. Respect the right to petition the government for redress of grievances by eliminating sovereign/qualified immunity. Hold people responsible when they violate the rights of others; whether it be politicians, police, or the people in general. Stop trying to punish folks for personal choices that aren't harming others," Kalagias wrote.
Westerman's Libertarian opponent, Frank Gilbert, said he had paused to do some research before responding.
"I had to look up the president's Tweet, as I don't follow him or pay much attention to what he says," the Tull man said in an email.
"Comparing what he said to what we all saw happen, I am pretty sure the president got it wrong. Even if he is right about what Mr. Gugino was doing, the police overreacted and provided another example of why police reform is necessary," he said.
"Until the police, our mayors, governors, the president and all our other employees can be held fully accountable for their actions, all Americans are in danger from our overreaching, unaccountable government," Gilbert added.