A ‘shocking’ bodycam video released of New York cops fatally beating an inmate

The office of the New York attorney general released body camera footage Friday showing the fatal beating of a state inmate this month by corrections officers who punched and kicked him repeatedly while he was handcuffed in a hospital room.

The incident, which has sparked outrage from political leaders and was condemned by the officers’ union as “incomprehensible,” is being investigated by Attorney General Letitia James. The inmate, Robert Brooks, 43, died in hospital a day after the December 9 attack.

“I don’t take the release of this video lightly, especially in the middle of the holiday season,” James said in a virtual press conference.

“These videos are shocking and disturbing,” she added.

Brooks can be seen in the videos with his hands in handcuffs behind his back. In one video, he sits up while an officer presses his foot down on him. He is then beaten by two officers.

At another point, he is violently yanked from the bed by his shirt collar and held up above the ground, his face visibly bloodied.

Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to begin the process of firing 14 workers at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, where the incident occurred. They include correctional officers, sergeants and a prison nurse. Meanwhile, all have been suspended without pay, except for one officer, who has already resigned.

In a statement following the release of the videos, Daniel Martuscello, the commissioner of the state Department of Corrections, said his office has launched its own investigation in an effort to bring about “institutional change.”

“Watching the video evidence of Robert Brooks’ life being taken left me deeply repulsed and sickened,” Martuscello said. “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.”

James said the officers had not activated their body cameras, but they were still on and recording in standby mode. As a result, she added, they did not record audio and only recorded for 30 minutes.

Her office released the full videos of the four officers, which included some blurring.

On Dec. 9, James said, Brooks was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility, also in Oneida County, to Marcy Correctional Facility. The events unfolded in a medical examination room before 9.30 p.m. Brooks was carried into the room hanging upside down with his hands handcuffed behind his back, a video shows.

Without audio, it’s unclear what words were exchanged between Brooks and the officers. Although he does not appear to physically retaliate in the footage, the videos show different angles and at times it is unclear what is happening to Brooks as officers move and stand around the room.

After the officers move Brooks from the bed, he is taken to a corner. Later he is seen on the bed wearing only his underwear and being looked after by the nurse.

Brooks was taken to the hospital and died the following day. An autopsy was performed, and “preliminary findings indicate concerns of asphyxiation due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being the result of the actions of another,” according to a state Office of Corrections investigative report obtained by NBC affiliate WKTV in Utica.

In the wake of initial media reports, James said her Office of Special Investigation would conduct a review and release the video after Brooks’ family saw it first.

“I have a responsibility and a duty to provide transparency and accountability to the Brooks family, their loved ones and all New Yorkers,” she said Friday.

Brooks had been imprisoned since 2017 on a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault with a longtime girlfriend. State corrections officials declined to detail what led to Brooks being transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison, that night.

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but the union previously said it saw parts of the videos.

“What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and certainly does not reflect the great work that the vast majority of our members do every day,” the union said in a statement this week, adding that what happened is “the opposite of everything NYSCOPBA and its membership stand for.”

Hochul said in a statement that “the vast majority” of correctional officers “do extraordinary work under difficult circumstances,” but “we have zero tolerance for individuals who cross the line, break the law, and engage in unnecessary violence or targeted abuse. “

Martuscello said the agency has expanded its body camera policy effective immediately, requiring all correctional officers to have their cameras activated whenever they are in direct contact with inmates.

The Correctional Association of New York, an independent prison watchdog group, published a report last year after monitoring the Marcy Correctional Facility in October 2022. The report noted complaints of “widespread” physical abuse by staff members, with 80% of incarcerated individuals reporting witnessing or experiencing abuse and nearly 70% reporting racial discrimination or bias.

Brooks’ family thanked Hochul in a statement this week for acting “to hold the officers accountable.”

“We cannot understand how this could have happened in the first place,” the family said. “Nobody should have to lose a family member like this.”