Guards in fatal New York prison assault of Robert Brooks were accused of beating inmates before
Guards in fatal New York prison assault of Robert Brooks were accused of beating inmates before
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Shocking bodycam video of prison guards beating the inmate was released on Friday by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The inmate, 43-year-old Robert Brooks, died on December 10, a day after the incident at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
![[At one point in the footage, the staff can be seen removing items of Brooks’ clothing while he remains handcuffed]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/27/19/newFile-1.jpg)
Katie Rosenfeld, a lawyer for one of the inmates, criticized the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for fighting her client’s lawsuit for four years. “The fact that they failed to rein in these officers that they knew had beaten someone else is a direct contributor to Mr. Brooks’s death,” Rosenfeld told the Times.
![[Three of the corrections officers implicated in the beating of Brooks had been previously accused of similar attacks, according to lawsuits]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/27/21/Inmate_Death-New_York_80124.jpg)
In a statement on Friday, Daniel F. Martuscello III, the state’s corrections commissioner, vowed to address the issue. “It is not enough to simply condemn this horrific act and then go back to business,” he said in a statement on Friday. “Institutional change must follow.”.
The new report comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday released shocking body cam footage of the guards violently beating Brooks while his hands are cuffed behind his back. For about 20 minutes, they are seen beating him on his head, chest, and genital area in the medical exam room with one officer hitting him with a shoe. He died the next day.
Brooks, 43, had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017, according to the corrections department. James’ office opened an investigation into Brooks’ death on December 16. Since the incident, one corrections officer has resigned and 13 others have been suspended without pay. New York Governor Kathy Hochul called for all the individuals involved to be fired over the fatal beating.
