Body camera footage 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 footage 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.
Brooks appeared to have died from asphyxiation.
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 video shows officers shoving a white cloth around Brooks’ lips and tying it around the neck. According to the footage, one cop grabbed both hands around Brooks’ neck and dragged him off an examination table.
While their colleagues punch and kick Brooks, other officers and nurses are calmly talking, handling paperwork, and even smiling in the hallway.
Brooks’ family watched the tape earlier this week. This week, a lawyer representing the Brooks family stated 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.
Court documents filed earlier this week revealed some information about the incident.
Troopers appeared in court in Oneida County to request high-risk protection orders for three of the 13 prison guards under investigation for the assault. If a judge deems a person a potential threat to himself or others, law enforcement can request a temporary seizure of firearms and other weapons.
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.
Greece-born and Monroe County-raised Brooks received a 12-year prison sentence in 2017 for first-degree assault. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported that they detained him after he repeatedly stabbed his fiancée.
Records show that the Mohawk Correctional Facility initially detained Brooks before transferring him to the Marcy Correctional Facility. Officials at the state prison have declined to explain why or when the transfer took place.
Four agencies are investigating the death: 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 undermines the integrity of our profession,” the union said in a statement. “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. The research revealed a “pervasive culture of fear and retaliation”.
This is a developing story.