Robert Brooks, 43, was declared deceased following a shocking incident involving correctional officers at a state prison in New York. The city’s Attorney General has initiated an investigation into the matter.
A newly released video depicting a fatal beating in a New York prison shows correctional officers repeatedly striking a handcuffed man, hitting him in the chest with a shoe, and lifting him by the neck before dropping him.
The state’s attorney general, who is examining the officers’ use of force, made the body camera footage of the December 9 assault on Robert Brooks public on Friday.
Robert Brooks, 43, was declared dead at a hospital the morning following an assault at the Marcy Correctional Facility, a state prison in Oneida County where he was incarcerated.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that thirteen correctional officers and a nurse involved in the attack would be terminated, expressing her outrage and horror over videos of the “senseless killing.”
The footage released on Friday reveals correctional officers repeatedly punching Brooks in the face and groin while he is handcuffed on a medical examination table.
As one officer strikes Robert Brooks in the stomach with a shoe, another lifts him by the neck before dropping him back onto the table. The officers then remove his shirt and pants as he lies motionless and bloodied on his back.
“These videos are shocking and disturbing, and I advise everyone to exercise caution before deciding to view them,” stated New York Attorney General Letitia James. The final results of Brooks’ autopsy are still awaited.
How Did The Victim Die?
Preliminary findings from a medical examination suggest “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being attributed to the actions of another,” according to court documents.
The videos lack audio because the officers wearing the body cameras had not activated them. Following Brooks’ death, the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision issued a directive mandating that staff use body cameras during every interaction with incarcerated individuals.
Attorney General Letitia James stated that her office is investigating the use of force that resulted in Brooks’ death, but did not specify whether any of the officers would face criminal charges.
With the release of the videos, “members of the public can now witness for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack on Robert L. Brooks,” stated Elizabeth Mazur, a lawyer representing his family.
“As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally and violently beaten by a group of officers whose responsibility it was to ensure his safety,” Mazur continued. “He deserved to live, and everyone residing in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they are safe from violence inflicted by prison staff.”
The union representing state correctional officers, which previewed the footage before its public release, commented: “What we witnessed is beyond comprehension and does not reflect the outstanding work carried out by the vast majority of our members every day.”
“This incident not only endangers our entire membership but also undermines the integrity of our profession. We cannot and will not condone such behavior,” declared the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association.
What Was Brooks In For?
Since 2017, Brooks had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault. According to officials, he arrived at the Marcy Correctional Facility just hours before the beating, having been transferred from another nearby state prison.
Located about 200 miles (323 kilometers) northwest of New York City, Marcy sits between Rome and Utica.
During a monitoring visit two years ago, the Correctional Association of New York, a prison oversight group, reported instances of widespread brutality and racism within the Marcy Correctional Facility.
Jennifer Scaife, the organization’s executive director, described the footage of Brooks being beaten as “sickening and appalling, but not surprising” in light of their previous findings. She urged the state prison system to “address the systemic issues that allow such brutality to flourish.”
Tina Luongo, a chief attorney at The Legal Aid Society in New York City, called for “complete transparency” regarding the use of force by state correctional staff and a “full accounting of this tragedy.”
“Like everyone who has seen this video, we are horrified, angered, and deeply saddened,” Luongo stated, describing the assault on Brooks as “a grotesque display of inhumanity that is utterly appalling.”
“All too often, the violence occurring behind prison walls remains concealed or becomes normalized in the public eye once the headlines fade,” added Luongo, whose organization provides public defender services and represents clients in state prisons.
David Condliffe, the executive director of the Center for Community Alternatives, a nonprofit focused on alternatives to incarceration, remarked: “We don’t need to watch this footage to understand what it reveals: generations of encouraged, calculated cruelty and abuse of power that thrive behind the blue wall of silence.”
“For each incident captured on camera, countless more acts of violence and murder in prisons go unaddressed, justified, or concealed,” Condliffe stated. “Accountability must include, but not be limited to, the dismissal of a few individuals. Their violence is not an anomaly; it is the result of a system entrenched in impunity.”
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