Marcy, N.Y. :- Body camera film released on Friday shows numerous New York state prison guards severely hitting, kicking, stripping, and restraining inmate Robert Brooks, who eventually died in a Utica hospital.
Attorney General Letitia James held a news conference during which she showed some of the footage from Marcy Correctional Facility and stated that her investigation is ongoing.
The tape was captured by four officers, each with a camera that recorded for 30 minutes. The cops did not activate their cameras, but they did record video in standby mode without audio, according to James.
Preliminary autopsy results from the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office “show concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to the actions of another,” troopers stated in a court filing earlier this week.
The footage shows officers shoving a white cloth around Brooks’ lips and tying him around the neck. According to the footage, one cop grabbed both hands around Brooks’ neck and dragged him off an examination table.
Other officers and nurses can be seen calmly talking, handling paperwork, and even smiling in the hallway while their colleagues punch and kick Brooks.
Brooks’ family watched the tape earlier this week. An counsel representing the Brooks family stated this week that Brooks’ final moments were “horrific and violent.”
“We will not rest until justice is served in Robert’s memory and the prisoners at Marcy Correctional Facility are safe,” the attorney, Elizabeth Mazur, stated. She won $12 million for Daniel Prude’s family in a police brutality lawsuit against the city of Rochester.
Some information about the incident were revealed in court documents filed earlier this week.
Troopers had gone to court in Oneida County to seek high risk protection orders for three of the 13 prison guards being investigated for the assault. Law enforcement can request that a judge order the temporary seizure of firearms and other weapons from a person who is judged a potential threat to himself or others.
A judge declined to issue the proposed orders. He noted that he did not believe the three policemen were likely to engage in activity that would endanger themselves or others.
Brooks, who was born in Greece and raised in Monroe County, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2017 for first-degree assault. He was detained after repeatedly stabbing his fiancée, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
According to records, Brooks was initially detained at the Mohawk Correctional Facility but was then transferred to the Marcy Correctional Facility. Officials at the state prison have declined to explain why or when the transfer took place.
The death is being investigated by four agencies: the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, the state Attorney General’s Office, the State Police, and the state Commission of Correction.
The state Education Department, which licenses nurses and other professionals, was “aware of the matter,” according to a representative.
The AG’s office has particular authority under state law to investigate any deaths caused by the actions or inaction of law enforcement officials, including prison officers. The office can present evidence to a grand jury, which will subsequently vote on whether to issue indictments.
The Attorney General’s Office has not announced any charges.
Governor Kathy Hochul fired 14 state personnel engaged in the assault earlier this month, one of them was a nurse and the rest were correctional guards. One of the correctional officials, Anthony Farina, has already resigned.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union that represents prison officers, condemned the officers’ actions in the assault.
“This incident not only endangers our entire membership, but it also undermines the integrity of our profession,” the union stated. “We cannot and will not condone this behavior.”
Marcy Prison is a medium-security jail in Oneida County, approximately seven miles west of Utica. According to data, the facility housed 846 detainees as of December 1.
The Correctional Association of New York, an independent monitoring agency, has previously reported difficulties at the jail.
In the fall of 2022, the group interviewed more than 100 detainees, who alleged widespread employee abuse. According to the research, a “pervasive culture of fear and retaliation” was found.