New York Attorney General Releases ‘Shocking and Disturbing’ Videos of Inmates’ Fatal Beatings

CNN
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Body-worn camera footage released Friday shows correctional officers at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York punching and kicking a handcuffed inmate in a fatal beating that is now under investigation by the New York attorney general.

Robert Brooks was pronounced dead Dec. 10 at Wynn Hospital in Utica, according to Attorney General Letitia James. Brooks, 43, had been serving a 12-year prison sentence since 2017 for first-degree assault, jail records show.

CNN has reviewed the footage, parts of which show surrounding officers kicking and punching Brooks, who has his hands handcuffed behind his back in a medical exam room. Brooks’ face looks bloody in some of the footage.

At one point, an officer appears to shove something into Brooks’ mouth before repeatedly punching him in the face. Another officer then punches Brooks in the groin before using a shoe to hit him.

New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations previously announced it had opened an investigation into Brooks’ death.

“As attorney general, you have my word that we will use every possible tool available to us to investigate this death thoroughly and quickly,” James said Friday.

She said four of the officers involved were wearing body cameras but did not activate them, so the cameras did not record audio of the incident.

“These videos are shocking and disturbing and I advise everyone to take appropriate care before choosing to view them,” she said.

Brooks had been transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility, another Oneida County jail, to Marcy Correctional Facility on Dec. 9, according to James.

Parts of the footage show Brooks, face down with his hands handcuffed behind his back, being carried into the building by three officers. It is unclear what led to Brooks being brought into the exam room.

Video shows officers punching and kicking Brooks

The Attorney General released eight videos from body-worn cameras from four different officers. Throughout most of the footage, Brooks is handcuffed with his hands behind his back as officers punch and kick him in the face, chest and groin.

Footage shows Brooks being handcuffed and face down being carried into the facility, with two officers holding his arms and one holding his feet. They take him into a medical examination room.

One officer appears to shove a white material into Brooks’ mouth while another officer holds Brooks by the throat. The officer then punches Brooks repeatedly in the face and another officer begins punching him in the groin. An officer is seen hitting Brooks with a shoe.

Two corrections officers then pull Brooks into a sitting upright position at the edge of an exam table—one officer holds Brooks by the neck—before laying him flat on his back. Another officer then puts his foot on Brooks’ lower torso, and one of the first officers who punched Brooks punches him again in the chest.

The officer who hit Brooks with his leg is then seen holding Brooks’ leg back before hitting him in the buttocks approximately three times.

He and another officer appear to pull Brooks up to the edge of the exam table once more, his face visibly bloodied. Brooks appears to speak before an officer punches him in the chest again.

Two officers then grab Brooks by the collar of his shirt and shoulder area, plucking him from the table before forcing him to the back right corner of the room and holding him against a wall as other officers look on.

Minutes later, the video shows one of the officers first hitting Brooks, giving him a sternum rub — used to try to assess whether a person is conscious.

The video then shows Brooks no longer in handcuffs, lying on the table, motionless in his underwear.

Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told CNN that it appeared Brooks suffered a fatal spinal cord injury when officers lifted him off the table by his shirt. Authorities have not released a cause of death for Brooks.

“My jaw hit the floor when I saw that,” Faust said, “because it looked like just enough force in the right direction to do real damage.” He noted that while Brooks was previously alert, he does not appear to move or respond to stimuli after officers pick him up.

The way the officers lifted Brooks hyperextended his neck, Faust explained. This could have “caused a devastating spinal cord injury, the result of which would be immediate or near-immediate paralysis of the body, including the respiratory muscles,” he said.

Officials in New York quickly condemned the fatal beating. Governor Kathy Hochul said Friday she was “outraged and horrified after watching footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks.” The governor said that earlier in a Saturday announcement she had directed an internal review into Brooks’ death and asked the state Department of Corrections to fire 14 workers involved.

“The vast majority of corrections officers do extraordinary work under difficult circumstances, and we are all grateful for their service,” Hochul said. “However, we have zero tolerance for individuals who cross the border, break the law and engage in unnecessary violence or targeted abuse.”

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision also condemned the attack. Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III said in a statement shared with CNN that the video left him “deeply repulsed and sickened” and that he would implement “institutional changes” in the department.

“It is not enough to simply condemn this horrific act and then go back to the case,” Martuscello said. “Institutional changes must follow, and we have already begun to take proactive steps to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again within our facilities.”

The commissioner said he had instituted a daily audit to ensure body cameras are properly activated at each facility and taken steps to ensure “senior managers” are present for all shifts at each facility.

Marcy Correctional Facility is a medium-security state prison located in Oneida County, about 82 miles east of Syracuse.

The Brooks family has reviewed the body camera footage of the beating, Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney for the family, said in a statement to CNN.

“As expected, watching the horrific and violent final moments of Robert’s life was devastating for his loved ones and will be disturbing to anyone who views the video following its release by the Attorney General’s Office,” the statement said. “We will not rest until we have secured justice for Robert’s memory, and safety for the prisoners at Marcy Correctional Facility.”

In a statement Sunday, NYSCOPBA, the union representing New York’s correctional officers, described the footage of the beating as “unbelievable, to say the least” and “certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our members do every day.”

This story has been updated with new information.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the day the corrections officer’s union released its statement on the beating. It was Sunday.