New York’s attorney general released shocking footage showing the fatal beating of a state prisoner earlier this month by correctional officers who savagely punched and kicked the inmate while he was handcuffed to an examination table.
Eight separate videos, captured by body cameras worn by four officers, were released by New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her investigation into the death of 43-year-old Robert Brooks and the Dec. 9 beating that led to it.
“I do not take lightly the release of this video, especially in the middle of the holiday season,” James said at a virtual news conference. “These videos are shocking and disturbing,” she added.
Footage of the incident has sparked outrage from political leaders and was denounced by the officers’ union as “incomprehensible.”
Brooks was pronounced dead at a Utica hospital on the morning of Dec. 10, according to officials. The Onondaga County medical examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine both the cause and manner of his death.
Court filings obtained by the New York Times this week revealed that State Police investigators cited “preliminary findings” from the medical examiner’s office, indicating “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck” as the cause of death, with the death being attributed to the actions of another.
The videos captured officers appearing to choke Brooks at multiple points, as well as forcibly lifting him and pushing him down by his throat.
Brooks was Black, while all the officers seen in the footage appear to be white, but no one has said whether race was a factor in the beating.
James did not address race in her account of the beating, however, a watchdog report from last year highlighted that nearly 70% of inmates interviewed at the Marcy Correctional Facility reported experiencing racial bias from staff members.
The fatality was publicly revealed on December 15 when Daniel F. Martuscello III, the state’s corrections commissioner, announced that an unnamed prisoner had died following a “use of force” by staff at the Marcy prison, located roughly 50 miles east of Syracuse.
The following day, Brooks was named as the victim. He had been serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree assault in Monroe County in 2017 for stabbing his former girlfriend, as stated in state prison records and reported by local news outlets.
James stated that the footage would be released after Brooks’s family had seen it. When they did on Monday, Elizabeth Mazur, a family lawyer, called it “devastating” to witness the “horrific and violent final moments” of Brooks’ life.
“As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally, violently beaten by a group of officers whose job was to keep him safe,” Mazur said. “He deserved to live, and everyone else living in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they do not have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff.”
In the videos, which contain no audio, Brooks is seen with his hands cuffed behind his back. In one clip, he sits upright while an officer presses a foot on him, then two officers proceed to punch him.
The absence of audio leaves it uncertain what, if anything, was said between Brooks and the officers. Although Brooks does not appear to physically resist in the footage, varying camera angles and obstructed views of the officers at times make it difficult to discern what is happening to him.
The footage shows one corrections officer kicking Brooks, whose face is covered in blood, with a boot before forcing him onto his back on an infirmary bed.
Meanwhile, another officer punched Brooks in the upper body. At one point, he is violently pulled from the bed by his shirt collar and lifted off the ground, helpless and unable to defend himself.
After being pulled from the bed by the officers, Brooks is taken to a corner of the room. Later in the footage, he is seen back on the bed, stripped down to his underwear, as the nurse tends to him.
The footage shows Brooks doing nothing to provoke or escalate the attack, yet several officers are seen as the primary aggressors. Meanwhile, other officers enter and exit the room, conversing casually and watching as Brooks was manhandled. At no point does anyone intervene to stop the assault.
Thirteen officers and a nurse involved in the attack were placed on administrative leave while investigations were underway by James’s office, the State Police, and the corrections department’s Office of Special Investigations.
Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to begin the process of firing 14 employees from the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, where the incident took place.
State prison records indicate that Brooks had been incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility, located approximately 15 minutes from Marcy.
James stated that Brooks had been transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility on the day of the attack but did not disclose the reason for the move. A spokesperson for the corrections department declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigations, according to the New York Times.
On Friday, Hochul said she was “committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable.”
Those facing termination include correctional officers, sergeants, and a prison nurse. In the meantime, all have been suspended without pay, except for one officer who had already resigned.
According to the department, they are Sgts. Michael Mashaw and Glenn Trombly; Officers Matthew Galliher, Nicholas Anzalone, Nicholas Kieffer; David Kingsley, Robert Kessler, Michael Fisher, Christopher Walrath, Michael Along, Shea Schoff and David Walters; and Kyle Dashnaw, a nurse.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association stated that its executive board members had viewed a brief portion of the attack footage, describing it as unconscionable.
“What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day,” the union said, adding, “We cannot and will not condone this behavior.”
The investigation could lead to criminal charges for those involved in the assault, with further inquiries from both the State Police and the corrections department’s Office of Special Investigations potentially escalating the case.
If no criminal charges are filed, union rules and arbitration could complicate efforts to fire those involved. Before the footage’s release, the corrections union condemned the alleged actions of the 14 employees but stated it would still represent its members.
David Condliffe, the executive director of the alternatives-to-incarceration nonprofit Center for Community Alternatives, joins an outraged public in a call for charges.
“For every instance caught on camera, countless more acts of violence and murder in prisons are ignored, justified, or covered up,” Condliffe said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “Accountability must include, but cannot stop with, the firing of a few individuals. Their violence is not an anomaly; it is the product of a system steeped in impunity.”
