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New York probes suffocation of black man hooded by police
Dubbing the footage "deeply disturbing," New York's governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said he had "full faith" the attorney general's investigation would "ensure that justice is served."
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Demonstrators take part in a protest following the death of a Black man, Daniel Prude, after police put a spit hood over his head during an arrest on March 23, in Rochester, New York, Thursday. (Reuters/Lindsay DeDario)
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everal hundred peaceful demonstrators marched Thursday in New York's Times Square over the death of a black man that police hooded and forced face down on the road, according to video footage that prompted a probe from the state's attorney general.
The demonstrators gathered under a steady rain to demand justice for Daniel Prude, whose family said he died on March 30 after being removed from life support, seven days after the police encounter upstate in the city of Rochester.
Dubbing the footage "deeply disturbing," New York's governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday said he had "full faith" the attorney general's investigation would "ensure that justice is served."
The 41-year-old's family and activists made his death public Wednesday, after receiving body cam footage through an open records request.
The news of yet another police killing of an African American triggered fresh outrage, three months after protests ignited nationwide over George Floyd, who was choked to death during an arrest while handcuffed.
Prude's family demanded legal action against the officers involved, who were suspended on Thursday.
Letitia James, New York state's top prosecutor, said an investigation was underway.
"Mr. Daniel Prude was failed by our police department, our mental health care system, our society and, he was failed by me," Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said.
"We cannot continue to fail black lives this way," she told a news conference.
"Racism is alive and well in every system in America."
Prude's brother told journalists he had called police March 23 as Daniel suffered a mental health episode.
"I placed a phone call for my brother to get help, not to get lynched," Joe Prude said outside Rochester's City Hall Wednesday.
"How many brothers have to die for society to understand this has to stop?"
When officers arrived Prude was unarmed and naked in the road, according to the video.
Police ordered an initially compliant Prude to get on the ground, but after being handcuffed he became increasingly agitated.
Officers then put a "spit hood" on him and forced his head to the pavement. Moments later he lost consciousness.
He died in hospital a week later, when life support was switched off.
Local media said an autopsy ruled the death a homicide caused by "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint."
The report also listed a low level of the drug PCP in Prude's blood.
"He was treated inhumanely and without dignity," community organizer Ashley Gantt said.
