Seven Police Officers in Rochester, New York were suspended on Thursday over the asphyxiation death of a black man who they arrested in March. The brutal incident was revealed in videotape footage made public this week, which was recorded by an officer’s body camera. The video captures a group of officers putting a mesh hood over Daniel Prude’s head as he kneels naked and restrained on a Rochester street and snow falls around him.
The recording was released on Wednesday by members of Prude’s family, who called for the arrest of the officers. Prude, 41, died seven days after the March 23 arrest in Rochester, NY. Protests broke out on Wednesday in downtown Rochester and on Thursday, some 300 miles to the south, several dozen people demonstrated in Times Square in New York City, demanding justice for Prude and police reform.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who is black, told reporters on Thursday, “Mr. Daniel Prude was failed by our police department, our mental health care system, our society, and he was failed by me. I’m filled with grief, and anger at myself for all the failures that lead to his death.” Rochester police chief La’Ron Singletary, who is also black, has said that internal and criminal investigations were underway.
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