Body camera videos released by New York State Attorney General Letitia James show a handcuffed inmate being beaten by correctional officers at Marcy Correctional Facility.
"As the Attorney General, I release these videos because I have a responsibility and duty to provide the Brooks family and loved ones and all New Yorkers with transparency and accountability," James said, according to WRGB-TV in Albany.
The videos show different points of view from multiple corrections officers of what happened Dec. 9 shortly before Robert Brooks' death. The videos show a handcuffed Brooks being punched and kicked repeatedly by corrections officers. At one point officers clean off Brooks' bloodied face, only to resume pummeling him.
Ta-Sean Murdock, Director of Operators for the Center For Law and Justice in Albany told WRGB that the videos show a cultural problem within the correctional system.
"I don't think this would have happened if this inmate was white. And it's also telling that this inmate who is a person of color is beaten while in restraints with 13 other corrections officers around him and they were all white. If that doesn't say it's systemic, then I don't know what is," said Murdock.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called on all involved correctional officers to be fired while James completes her investigation into possible criminal charges in the matter.
"Yesterday I directed DOCCS Commissioner Martuscello to immediately begin the termination process for 14 individuals who were involved in the fatal attack on an incarcerated individual at Marcy Correctional Facility. This action comes after I directed an internal review of the circumstances that lead to this individual's death," Hochul stated.
"The vast majority of correction officers do extraordinary work under difficult circumstances, and we are all grateful for their service. But we have no tolerance for individuals who cross the line, break the law and engage in unnecessary violence or targeted abuse," she stated.
"Just because someone is handcuffed does not mean they cannot be subjected to force. However – and this is a big however – if someone is no longer a direct threat to the officers and is complying with instructions, it would certainly be excessive to strike them, choke them, et cetera," Bryce Peterson, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a senior research scientist at the Center for Justice Research and Innovation, told CNN.
Peterson described to CNN several instances of troubling behavior, such as "when officers are cleaning blood off Mr. Brooks' face and then begin to strike him – and continue to strike and grab him for the next 30 seconds."
Brooks was arrested in April 2016 for repeatedly stabbing his girlfriend. He was originally charged with attempted murder after stabbing the woman numerous times in the upper torso, but pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and received a 12-year sentence, USA Today reported.
