The state Attorney General’s Office is expected to release by the end of the week video footage from body-worn cameras of employees at Marcy Correctional Facility who were involved in a violent attack that killed an incarcerated man earlier this month, sources said. Spectrum News 1.
Robert Brooks, 43, died Dec. 10 after a violent confrontation with several correctional officers at Marcy, an all-male medium security facility in Oneida County. Over the weekend, Gov. Kathy Hochul directed state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martosello to fire 14 corrections employees involved in the attack on Brooks, who was serving a 12-year prison sentence for the 2016 stabbing of his girlfriend.
“Law enforcement workers must be held to the highest standards of accountability, and I am committed to providing New Yorkers with the transparency they deserve,” State Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement on Saturday.
The coroner has not yet announced Brooks’ cause of death.
Sources say state lawmakers visited the facility before the video was released, adding that the footage is horrific and that state officials are concerned about the public’s backlash.
Brooks was hospitalized on December 9 after several correctional officers allegedly beat him while he was handcuffed. He died the next day.
The accident is still under investigation By the State Attorney’s Office of Special Investigations. James’ office will release the footage voluntarily, because state law does not mandate the release of the video.
State law requires the office to investigate every incident in which a civilian dies as a result of an encounter with law enforcement, including a corrections officer. The officer may be on or off duty, and the deceased person may be armed or unarmed.
“On behalf of the District Attorney’s Office, I offer my deepest condolences to Mr. Brooks’ family and loved ones,” the prosecutor said.
Over the weekend, leaders of the New York State Police and Correctional Officers Benevolent Association, or state correctional officers’ union, said they reviewed video footage that captured only a small portion of the incident.
“What we have witnessed is incomprehensible, to say the least, and certainly does not reflect the great work that the vast majority of our members do every day,” according to a statement from NYSCOPBA on Sunday. “…What happened at Marcy Correctional Facility is the opposite of everything NYSCOPBA and its members stand for. When this footage is released to the public, it will undoubtedly draw comparisons to other high-profile incidents of violence involving law enforcement. This incident has the potential to make our correctional facilities even more violent.” As hostile and unpredictable as ever, our members will face increasing challenges as a result, and any efforts to improve their working conditions and quality of life will be overshadowed by this incident.
“This incident not only puts our entire membership at risk, it undermines the integrity of our profession. We cannot and will not condone this behavior.”
