Bodycam video shows police beating a handcuffed man before he died in a NY jail

Warning: This story and video contain violent content.

A newly released video of a New York prison killing spree shows officers trying to wrestle a handcuffed man to the ground, hitting him in the chest with a shoe, lifting him by the neck and knocking him down.

Body camera footage of the Dec. 9 assault on Robert Brooks was made public Friday by a federal attorney, who is investigating police abuse of force.

Brooks, 43, was pronounced dead at the hospital the morning after the attack at Marcy Correctional Facility, the state prison where he was held in Oneida County.

Thirteen police officers and a nurse involved in the attack will face impeachment, according to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who said she was “outraged and horrified” by the videos of the “senseless killing.”

The video, which was made public on Friday, shows correctional officers repeatedly beating Brooks in the face and buttocks as he sits handcuffed on an examination table.

As one of the officers uses a shoe to hit Brooks in the stomach, the other one grabs him by the neck and puts him on the table. The police then took off the man’s shirt and pants as he lay on his back, motionless and covered in blood.

“These videos are shocking and disturbing and I advise everyone to exercise due care before choosing to watch them,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Final results of Brooks’ autopsy are pending.

Initial findings from the medical examiner’s examination show “concerns of asphyxia due to neck compression as the cause of death, and death by the actions of another,” according to court documents.

‘Horrifying and extreme’

The videos do not include audio because the body cameras the police were wearing had not yet been made.

The state’s Department of Corrections and Corrections issued an order after Brooks’ death requiring staff to use body cameras in all interactions with inmates.

James said his office is investigating the use of force that led to Brooks’ murder, but did not say whether any officers would be charged.

With the release of the videos, “members of the public can now see for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the attack on Robert L. Brooks,” said his family’s attorney, Elizabeth Mazur.

“As viewers can see, Mr. “Brooks was killed, he was violently beaten by a team of police whose job was to keep him safe,” said Mazur. “He deserved to live, and everyone else living at Marcy Correctional Facility should know that they don’t have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff.”

‘System problems’

The disciplinary staff union, which viewed the footage of the attack before it was made public, said in a statement: “What we have seen is incomprehensible to say the least and it does not reflect the great work that many of our members do. every day.”

“This incident not only endangers our membership but undermines the integrity of our profession. We cannot and will not tolerate this behavior,” said the union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.

Brooks has been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017. He arrived at Marcy Correctional Facility hours before the beating, after being transferred from another nearby state prison, officials said.

Marcy is about 323 miles northwest of New York City, between the cities of Rome and Utica.

The Corrections Association of New York, a prison watchdog group, said it documented reports of brutality and racism at the Marcy Correctional Facility during visits two years ago.

The agency’s executive director, Jennifer Scaife, said the footage of Brooks being beaten was “sickening and horrifying, but not surprising” given her previous findings. He called on the state’s prison system to “address the issues that allow such brutality to flourish.”

David Condliffe, executive director of the non-profit community alternatives to incarceration center Community Alternatives, said in a statement: “For every incident caught on camera, many acts of violence and murder in prisons are ignored, condoned, or hidden.

“Accountability must include, but not stop at, the shooting of a few people. Their violence is not an anomaly; it is the result of a system steeped in impunity.”