New York Attorney General Letitia James released body camera footage that captures the fatal beating of state prisoner Robert Brooks by correctional officers, as confirmed in a report by Gothamist. The incident, which occurred at the Marcy Correctional Facility and is being probed by her office, displays multiple correctional employees engaging in what James described as "shocking and disturbing" actions against the handcuffed Brooks.
Footage from the event indicates that Brooks, while restrained and prone, was subjected to punches, kicks, and manipulation of his neck and stomach by up to eight state Department of Correction and Community Services staff members. As a result of this altercation, Brooks died on Dec. 10, prompting an investigation by James. The correction department, overshadowed by the beating, announced Brooks' death five days later. Having been transferred to the Marcy facility just before the incident, Brooks was in the middle of a 12-year sentence for stabbing an ex-girlfriend in 2016.
In the wake of this event, Gov. Kathy Hochul mandated the commencement of termination proceedings against 14 correctional facility employees, as reported by NBC News. The implicated individuals range from officers to sergeants and include a nurse, all of whom were either directly involved or failed to intervene in the beating. All are suspended without pay, save one officer who has resigned.
"As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally, violently beaten by a group of officers whose job was to keep him safe," Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney representing Brooks' family, told Gothamist. The bodycam footage, although without audio due to the cameras being on standby mode and not actively recording, shows Brooks being briskly carried into a medical exam room and then being assaulted, displaying in some segments an officer punching him in the face after placing a white cloth in his mouth.
Correction Commissioner Daniel Martuscello announced an independent investigation into Brooks' death, alongside Attorney General James' inquiry. Martuscello's statements regarding the incident conveyed his distaste and his commitment to institutional change moving forward. "There is no excuse and no rationalization for a vulgar, inhumane act that senselessly took a life," Martuscello said, as reported by Gothamist. In the face of the crisis, the correctional officers' union, through spokesperson James Miller, condemned the incident and denoted legal defense obligations for its members as "incomprehensible."
The Correctional Association of New York, a prison watchdog group, had raised concerns last year about Marcy Correctional Facility's staff behavior, as discovered in their report from an October 2022 visit. The group's findings spoke of "rampant abuse by staff," with prisoners, chiefly Black and Latino, experiencing physical assaults and a "retaliatory environment," as per the details shared by Gothamist.
