Who is Robert Brooks? What to Know as Letitia James Releases Bodycam Video

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday released body camera footage from four correctional officers as part of an investigation into the fatal beating of Robert Brooks earlier this month at an upstate prison.

Newsweek reached out via email to the jail, the Marcy Correctional Facility, as well as the New York Attorney General’s Office for comment Friday.

Why it matters

Brooks, 43, died Dec. 10, the morning after he was assaulted by corrections officers at the Oneida County Jail. The body camera footage shows him handcuffed to a medical examination table as the officers aggressively kick and punch him. Brooks’ face is bleeding in the footage.

The videotapes and Brooks’ death have caused a public outcry.

What to know

Brooks arrived at the Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9 after being transferred from the nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility. Hours later, he was taken in handcuffs to the medical examination room and beaten by the prison guards.

He was then “transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead in the early morning hours of December 10,” the New York Attorney General’s Office said in Friday’s statement.

Over a dozen officers were in the room. Four of the officers involved were wearing body cameras but did not activate them, which is why there is no sound on the video footage, according to James. The footage does not show Brooks provoking or physically reacting to the wave of punches against him.

Last week, ahead of the release of the footage, New York Governor Kathy Hochul called on Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) Commissioner Daniel Martuscello “to begin the termination process for the 14 individuals involved in his fatal attack.”

One employee has since resigned and the 13 others have been suspended without pay, Martuscello confirmed in a statement to Newsweek.

Preliminary results of an autopsy by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office show “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being the actions of another,” according to a lawsuit.

Newsweek has reached out via email to the Onondaga County Health Department for comment Friday.

Brooks was more than halfway through his 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault, the Associated Press reported. In 2016, Brooks pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in connection with the stabbing of his girlfriend Diana Rivera in April of that year.

Brooks has a mother who was informed of his death by force on Dec. 15 by Martuscello, as confirmed to Newsweek in an email.

What people say

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement Friday: “Like all New Yorkers, I was outraged and horrified after watching footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks…I ordered an immediate and full investigation into the death of Robert Brooks and further directed DOCCS Commissioner Martuscello to begin the termination process for the 14 individuals involved in his fatal attack.”

Martuscello said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “Watching the video evidence that Robert Brooks’ life was taken left me feeling deeply repulsed and sickened. There is no excuse and no rationalization for a vulgar, inhuman act that senselessly took a life. This type of behavior cannot be normalized , and I will not allow it to be within DOCCS …. It is not enough to simply condemn this appalling act and then go back to business, and we have already begun to take proactive steps steps to ensure that that nothing like this can ever happen again within our facilities.”

Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York, said Monday ahead of the footage’s release: “The public will witness the brutality that the Correctional Association of New York has documented in prisons for nearly two centuries and in Marcy as recently as two years ago. In July 2023, CANY released a report containing findings and recommendations following our monitoring visit to Marcy in October 2022. During interviews, 80 percent of those incarcerated reported witnessing or experiencing abuse by staff, and nearly 70 percent reported racial discrimination or bias.”

The New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union said on Friday X (formerly Twitter): “The appalling culture of officer brutality + abuse at Marcy has been well-documented for years – yet nothing was done. It shouldn’t take a cold-blooded killing caught on film to be a wake-up call to our leaders that the culture of officer brutality in NY prisons must still be alive today.His family and their loved ones deserve justice and accountability.

Julia Salazar, a state senator from New York, said on X Friday that the footage shows “unfathomable and deadly violence by DOCCS correctional officers and staff… It shouldn’t even be possible for this to happen inside a New York State prison… Marcy Correctional Facility cannot remain open.”

What happens next

The Office of Special Investigation in James’ office is investigating Brooks’ death. More details will likely come out after the official cause of death is released.

The statement from James’ office concluded: “The release of these recordings does not express any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal case or any opinion as to how or whether any person may be charged with a crime. .”