A handcuffed inmate at a New York prison was subjected to physical abuse by correctional officers, including punches, being hit with a shoe, and being lifted by the neck before being dropped, according to newly released video footage.
New York Attorney General Letitia James made public the body camera video on Friday, revealing the December 9th attack on 43-year-old Robert Brooks, who passed away the next morning.
The attorney general’s office is investigating the officers’ use of force that led to Brooks’ death.
Brooks was pronounced dead at a hospital the day after the assault at the Marcy Correctional Facility, a state prison in Oneida County.
The final results of Brooks’ autopsy remain pending.
Preliminary results from a medical examination suggest that the cause of death could be attributed to asphyxia resulting from neck compression, and that another individual’s actions may have contributed to the outcome.
The videos do not contain audio because the officers wearing body cameras had not activated them. The corrections department issued a directive following the assault requiring staff to use body cameras in every staff interaction with inmates.
A lawyer for Brooks’ family, Elizabeth Mazur, said the release of the videos means “members of the public can now view for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack on Robert L. Brooks.”
“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.”
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the union for state correctional officers, said in a statement that what was observed in the footage “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.”
Robert Brooks, 43, was pronounced dead at a hospital the day after the assault at the Marcy Correctional Facility. (iStock)
“This incident not only endangers our entire membership but undermines the integrity of our profession,” the union said. “We cannot and will not condone this behavior.”
The Correctional Association of New York, a prison oversight group, said it had documented reports of brutality and racism during a monitoring visit two years ago at the Marcy Correctional Facility.
The footage of the assault against Brooks “is sickening and appalling, but not surprising” given the previous findings, the organization’s executive director, Jennifer Scaife, said, adding that the state prison system needs to “address the systemic issues that allow such brutality to flourish.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
