New York police beat a handcuffed prisoner repeatedly, lifting him by the neck, new video shows

New York prison officers repeatedly punched a handcuffed inmate, hit him with a shoe, lifted him by the neck and threw him to the ground before he later died, newly released video shows.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released body camera footage Friday of the Dec. 9 to Robert Brooks, 43, who died the morning after the incident.

The attorney general’s office is investigating the police use of force that led to Brooks’ death.

Brooks was pronounced dead at the hospital the day after the attack at the Marcy Correctional Facility, a state prison in Oneida County.

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He had been in prison since 2017 and was serving a 12-year sentence first degree assault. Brooks arrived at the Marcy Correctional Facility hours before the attack, after being transferred from a nearby state prison.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, ordered the firing of more than a dozen employees at the state Department of Corrections and Corrections, including corrections officers and a nurse involved in the attack. The governor said he was “outraged and horrified” by the videos of the “senseless killings.”

The video shows correctional officers repeatedly hitting Brooks in the face and buttocks as he sits handcuffed on a medical examination table.

One officer is seen using a shoe to hit Brooks in the stomach as the other lifts him up by the neck and places him on a table. The officers then removed Brooks’ shirt and pants as he lay motionless and bleeding from the beating.

“These videos are shocking and disturbing, and I advise everyone to be careful before choosing to watch them,” said James.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference, Sept. 21, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File)

Final results of Brooks’ autopsy are pending.

The initial findings of the medical examination show “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as death due to the actions of another.”

The videos have no sound because the officers who were wearing body cameras did not turn them on. The Department of Corrections issued an order following the assault requiring staff to use body cameras in all staff contact with inmates.

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

“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.”

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, a law enforcement union, said in a statement that what was seen in the footage was “unbelievable to say the least and it’s beyond recognition of the great work many of us do every day.”

Robert Brooks, 43, was pronounced dead at the hospital the day after the attack at the Marcy Correctional Facility. (Stock)

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“This incident not only endangers our membership but undermines the dignity of our profession,” said the union. “We cannot and will not condone this behavior.”

The Corrections Association of New York, a prison watchdog group, said it documented reports of brutality and discrimination when it visited Marcy Correctional Facility two years ago.

The images of Brooks’ attack are “sickening and shocking, but not surprising” given past results, said the agency’s executive director, Jennifer Scaife, adding that the state’s prison system needs to “address the systemic problems that allow such brutality to flourish.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.