Just weeks before Christmas, a Black inmate at a New York prison was allegedly beaten to death by a group of correctional officers. The footage of the incident was so horrid, even the police union called it “incomprehensible.”
On Dec. 9, 43-year-old Robert Brooks was inside the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County where he was serving a 12-year sentence in the assault of his longtime girlfriend, per NBC News. Court documents say his hands were in “mechanical restraints” behind his back inside the infirmary as he was waiting for examination.
Two officers then forcefully pulled Brooks to a seated upright position at the edge of an exam table. As Brooks spoke to the officers, one of the officers punched him in the chest, documents say.
The officers then picked up by his collar and pinned him up against the window. More officers surrounding them observed the incident, the document says. At some point, Brooks is transferred to the examination table, laying on his back. The end of the documents describes Brooks being carried out by the officers
The Videos
The body camera videos of the incident, all of which have no audio, provide much more graphic details to what happened in addition to what the officers recalled.
In the video, Brooks is brought into the infirmary being carried face down by his ankles and wrists, which were bound by handcuffs. The video also shows Brooks with a bloodied nose and swollen side of his face as he is sat on the edge of the exam table, despite officers only noting him being punched in the chest in court documents.
It’s clear from the footage the beating went beyond just a chest strike. Officers were seen punching him repeatedly before restraining him on his back while his hands remained cuffed behind him. One officer is seen tying to shove a cloth in Brooks’ mouth. As they press him down on the table, one officer pinned him down on his groin with his foot.
The officers continued punching at him while his chest was exposed. At some point, Brooks appears to go unresponsive and the officers smack him up as if they were trying to get him to keep him awake.
Officers then pull him up and hold him against the wall in the corner of the room. Brooks is placed back on the table and stripped down to his undergarments when he fell unresponsive. Officers are seen laughing to one another while standing beside his lifeless body. Officers and people who appeared to be medical staff continue to administer aid.
The Reactions
The incident and the videos sparked outrage from Brooks’ family to government officials. Documents say Brooks’ cause of death was still being determined but the medical examiner determined he suffered asphyxiation due to neck compressions, per Spectrum News 1.
New York State Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs called it a “modern-day lynching,” per PIX11.
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association condemned the video as “incomprehensible” and “opposite of everything” the union stands for.
Attorney General Letitia James found the footage “shocking and disturbing,” adding she had a responsibility to provide Brooks’ family with answers. The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations announced the launch of a probe into Brooks’ death.
So far, the only statement from Brooks’ family was an expression of gratitude to Gov. Kathy Hochul for ordering the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to terminate the 14 correction employees involved in the death. So far, they’ve been suspended without pay except one officer who resigned, NBC reports.