Photos: Body-Cams\Office of New York Attorney General
Multiple state correction officers were criminally charged for their alleged roles in the murder of Robert Brooks inside an upstate New York prison in December, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday.
Brooks, 43, was handcuffed behind his back as guards kicked and punched him while they held him down on a medical bed inside Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 9, according to body camera footage from officers involved.
He died around seven hours later at Wynn Hospital in Utica.
The officers face a slew of charges ranging from murder, manslaughter and gang assault, according to the Albany Times Union, which first reported the indictment.
The five officers seen beating Brooks on the video were hit with the top charges, according to the news site. The officers who held him down and two nurses in the area were also hit with criminal charges, the paper reported.
Brooks’ cause of death was ruled a homicide due to compression of the neck and multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Onondaga County Medical Examiner.
On Dec. 27, state Attorney General Letitia James released footage of four officers at the scene who apparently didn’t realize the cameras were recording. During the assault, one officer put a white object in Brooks’ mouth and then calmly changed his bloody rubber gloves, the videos show.
At least three sergeants and two nurses were also present during the beatdown, the videos show.
“The brutal attack on Mr. Brooks was sickening, and I immediately moved to terminate the employment of those involved,” Hochul said in a statement. “Now, the perpetrators have been rightfully charged with murder and State Police are making arrests.”
The case is being handled by Onondaga County District Attorney Willian J. Fitzpatrick because James named him as special prosecutor after she recused herself due to a possible conflict. In her role as attorney general, James is representing two of the officers in a separate civil case brought by a former prisoner alleging similar abuse.
Two weeks after Brooks’ death, Hochul ordered New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision officials to fire the 14 prison staffers implicated in the fatal beatdown. They are still officially on the payroll as their disciplinary cases make their way through the process outlined by their union contracts. READ MORE…
