Video shows prison officers' fatal assault of inmate in 'shocking' detail in New York

Corrections officers handcuffed an inmate and shackled his legs while punching and kicking him in the groin and chest during a fatal attack at a prison in central New York this month, video footage released publicly Friday shows.

The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by four of the officers. It was made public by state Attorney General Letitia James as part of her office's investigation into the death of the man, Robert Brooks, and the beating that preceded it.

Among other things, the videos show one correction officer using a booted foot to kick Brooks, whose face is bloodied, and then force him onto his back on an infirmary examination table while another officer punches Brooks in the upper body.

James, in comments before showing some of the footage at an online news conference, said that what the eight videos her office was releasing showed was "shocking and disturbing."

"I do not take lightly the release of this video, especially in the middle of the holiday season," James said. "But as the attorney general I release these videos because I have a responsibility and duty to provide the Brooks family, their loved ones and all New Yorkers with transparency and accountability."

The video was released two weeks after the deadly assault and several days after Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was moving to fire the 14 prison workers implicated in the attack. Officials expected it to provoke a fierce public outcry.

The footage was previously described as "horrific" by members of the inmate's family and "incomprehensible" by the prison officers' union. The videos do not include audio because, James said, the officers' cameras were on but had not been activated by the officers who were wearing them.

Brooks, 43, was declared dead at a Utica hospital early on Dec. 10, officials have said. The Onondaga County medical examiner's office is conducting an autopsy and will determine the cause and manner of Brooks' death.

The autopsy had not been completed as of Thursday, according to a spokesperson for the medical examiner's office. The Onondaga County district attorney's office would disclose the cause and manner of death once they have been determined, the spokesperson, Mariah Senecal-Reilly, said.

In court filings this week, State Police investigators said "preliminary findings" from the medical examiner's office showed "concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as and the death being due to actions of another."

Senecal-Reilly declined to comment.

The attack and death came to light on Dec. 15, when the state's corrections commissioner, Daniel F. Martuscello III, said that an unidentified inmate had died after a "use of force" by staff members at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Marcy, New York.

Brooks was identified as the victim the next day. He had been serving a 12-year sentence after pleading guilty in Monroe County in 2017 to first-degree assault in the stabbing of a former girlfriend, according to state prison records and local news reports.

The corrections employees implicated in the attack -- 13 officers and a nurse -- were placed on administrative leave amid the inquiries by James' office, the State Police and the corrections department.

The attorney general is empowered to investigate the deaths of civilians in encounters with police or corrections officers. She said Saturday that her office, as part of its inquiry, had obtained the video of the incident. In line with the office's policy, James said, the footage would be released once Brooks' family had seen it.

That happened Monday. Elizabeth Mazur, a lawyer for members of Brooks' family, said that watching "the horrific and violent final moments of Robert's life" had been devastating for them and would be "disturbing to anyone who views the video."

Hochul said Saturday that, after an internal review, she had directed Martuscello to begin the process of terminating the 14 employees. (One officer accused of participating, Anthony Farina, has resigned, the corrections department said.)

"We have no tolerance for individuals who cross the line, break the law and engage in unnecessary violence or targeted abuse," Hochul said.

Martuscello said in a statement that the employees in question, including two sergeants, had been suspended without pay. Firing them, he said, was "in the best interest of the agency and the communities we serve."

The others facing termination, according to the department, are Sgts. Michael Mashaw and Glenn Trombly; Officers Matthew Galliher, Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Robert Kessler, Michael Fisher, Christopher Walrath, Michael Along, Shea Schoff and David Walters; and Kyle Dashnaw, a nurse.

Unless those accused of participating in the attack are criminally charged, arbitration and union rules could make it difficult to fire them. The union that represents corrections employees said in a statement that it would fulfill its obligation "to represent all of its members," but it strongly condemned what the 14 are accused of doing.

The union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, noted in the statement that members of its executive board had seen footage of a small portion of the attack.

"What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day," the union said. "We cannot and will not condone this behavior."

State prison records show that Brooks had been serving his sentence at Mohawk Correctional Facility, which is about a 15-minute drive from the Marcy prison. Both are medium-security facilities.

It was unclear when he was brought from one prison to the other and under what circumstances. A corrections department spokesperson, citing the continuing investigations, declined to comment.

In a report issued last year, the Correctional Association of New York, the state's independent prison watchdog, documented the findings of a monitoring visit to the Marcy prison in October 2022.

At the time of the visit, the association found, 41 per cent of Marcy prisoners were Black and 21 per cent were Hispanic. The state inspector general reported in 2022 that 91 per cent of the prison's staff members were white. Brooks was Black. All of the corrections employees seen in the video released Friday appear to be white.

Four of 5 inmates interviewed at the prison, which holds about 800 men, reported having witnessed or experienced abuse by staff members, and nearly 70 per cent reported racial bias, according to the association's report, which urged state officials to investigate the allegations.

One interviewee said that physical abuse was "rampant." When he arrived at Marcy, he added, a corrections officer had told him: "'This is a hands-on facility. We're going to put hands on you if we don't like what you're doing.'"