Graphic video shows Buffalo, New York, police officers pushing an elderly man back while enforcing curfew, knocking the man over and causing him to hit his head on the sidewalk and bleed from his ear.

The short, but shocking video was captured by local NPR station WBFO, and it quickly went viral after it was posted on Twitter.

The video shows the man approaching as dozens of police officers - all wearing full riot gear- look to be clearing Niagara Square in Buffalo to enforce the city's curfew.

The unidentified man walks up to one officer while pointing to another officer with his cell phone in hand.

Seconds after he approaches, officers can be heard yelling, "Move!"

Officers are then heard chanting, "Push him back! Push him back!"

The two officers are then seen shoving the older man back, and one of the officers uses his baton to push the man backward.

The man takes several steps backwards, then falls over backward, his head audibly smacking against the sidewalk. He is then seen laying motionless on the ground with blood coming out of his right year.

"He's bleeding out his ear," someone can be heard saying.

Local ABC affiliate WKBW reported that a spokesperson with the department originally reported the man was injured when he "tripped & fell" - without mentioning any police involvement.

The video, however, shows the man tripped after he was pushed by the officers.

Video also shows the officer who pushed the man with a baton begin to kneel down, but another officer behind him pulls him up and pushes him to keep walking down the sidewalk.

The 75-year-old man was on Thursday night in a hospital in serious, but stable condition, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said in a statement. The city's police commissioner has also ordered an investigation into the incident and suspended the two officers without pay pending its outcome.

"I was deeply disturbed by the video, as was Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood," he said.

In his statement, the mayor also described the demonstration after curfew as "illegal" and noted that two groups of protesters had gotten into a physical altercation before the events depicted in the video.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo also responded to the video, calling the incident "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful."

Buffalo Police did not immediately return multiple BuzzFeed News requests for comment and information about the incident.

tag