New York State Attorney Letitia James’ office released surveillance footage showing police officers beating a handcuffed inmate, who died the next morning, the BBC reported.
The office of New York State Attorney Letitia James released surveillance footage showing police officers beating a handcuffed inmate, who died the next morning, the BBC reported today.
Robert Brooks died the day after
The inmate, 43-year-old Robert Brooks, was pronounced dead on Dec. 10, a day after the incident at the Marsi Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
The video, released by James on Friday, shows officers punching Brooks repeatedly in the face and groin as he sits on a table with his hands in handcuffs.
As he states BBCthe footage shows a prison officer putting something in Brooks’ mouth and then punching him, while another officer kicks him in the stomach.
The footage also shows the moment one of the officers grabs the prisoner by the neck and lifts him onto the medical examination table.
We warn you that the video is disturbing!
Brooks died a day after the attack, and a preliminary investigation found the cause of death to be “asphyxiation due to compression of the neck.”
Police officers and nurses fired
After an internal review, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the firing of 13 police officers and a prison nurse involved in the attack.
In a recorded statement, James said she “does not take the release of this video lightly, especially in the middle of the holiday season.”
“I am releasing the videos because I have a responsibility and a duty to provide transparency and accountability to the Brooks family, their loved ones and all New Yorkers,” she said.
Brooks was serving a 12-year sentence for the attack and had been transferred to Marsi from the nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility earlier in the day when the attack took place.
Horrific abuse is not an “isolated incident”
Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney for the Brooks family, said in a statement that the videos show the “horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack.”
“He deserved to live, and everyone else who lives in Marcy Correctional Institution deserves to know that they don’t have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff,” Mazur said.
The New York branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) states that beatings are “not an isolated incident”, and that African-Americans are often the target of attacks.
(TYPE/Source: N1 BiH, BBC, Tanjug/Photo: New York State Attorney General’s Office)
