Robert Brooks beating video prompts Gov. Kathy Hochul to visit upstate N.Y. prison and make immediate changes
NEW YORK -- Protesters took to the streets of Manhattan on Monday to call for the firing of the officers involved in the beating death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at an upstate New York prison.
Gov. Kathy Hochul visited the Marcy Correctional Facility, where the 43-year-old was killed and announced some immediate changes.
What the disturbing video shows
The video released Friday of the brutal Dec. 9 beating from inside the correctional facility in Oneida County shows officers repeatedly punching, kicking and dragging the handcuffed Brooks, who died a day later.
The series of eight videos released to the public played a pivotal part in the launching of an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James' office and calls from Hochul for all 13 officers and a nurse connected to the beating to be terminated.
"As attorney general, you have my word that we will use every possible tool available to us to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly," James said.
The governor went to the correctional facility on Monday to seek answers in Brooks' death and immediately implemented new changes, including naming a new superintendent, and expediting $400 million towards new cameras facility wide.
"Today, as I stood in the room where Robert Brooks was killed, I was once again heartbroken by this unnecessary loss of life and further sickened to think of the actions of depraved individuals with no regard for human life," Hochul said in a statement. "Mr. Brooks and his family did not deserve this."
An official cause of death for Brooks has not yet been determined. The autopsy results are still pending.
"The justification is not there"
CBS News New York has learned three of the 13 guards implicated in the savage beating of Brooks had been accused in lawsuits of earlier attacks in New York prisons.
In all, 14 Marcy staff members are currently suspended without pay, pending the investigation. There have been no formal charges brought against the officers yet.
Former NYPD investigator Felipe Rodriguez said the video is shocking, adding there's no excuse for the officers' actions.
"The justification is not there. You can't hit a suspect that is handcuffed," Rodriguez said. "It's going to be very difficult for them to justify use of force. Every strike has to be justified. Any discharge of a firearm has to be justified. Otherwise, you did it incorrectly," Rodriguez said.
"From what we're seeing in that body camera footage right now, it certainly seems like an excessive use of force and there's not an obvious justification based on Mr. Brooks' behavior, the fact that he was restrained, etc.," added Bryce Peterson, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Calls for justice echo in the shadow of Hochul's office
"When we allow that to happen, we say that we're OK with the denigration and the devaluation of Black life," one protester said.
Protesters marched with signs in hand, demanding action against the officers seen on body camera footage beating Brooks.
"Seeing a Black brother like that, being beat like that, being lynched, that is disturbing," a protester said.
