Newly released footage from body cameras shows how several correctional officers in New York beat inmate Robert Brooks to death.
He had to receive both repeated punches and kicks from the staff, while he was unable to defend himself as he was handcuffed.
Brooks was pronounced dead the next day.
43-year-old Robert Brooks served a twelve-year prison sentence for minor assault, according to the AP. The footage, released by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday, takes place on an examination table at the prison’s medical facility.
The footage, which has no sound, shows several correctional officers repeatedly punching Brooks in the face and kicking and punching his sex. Sharing the photos publicly has not been taken lightly by Letitia James, especially since they are released in the middle of the holiday season.
– I am releasing the videos because I have a responsibility and a duty to provide the Brooks family, their loved ones and all New Yorkers with transparency and accountability, Letitia James said in a videotaped statement.
The videos also show how a member of the prison staff lifts Robert Brooks up by the neck and puts something in his mouth before the correctional officer later beats him. Further, another correctional officer hits Brooks in the stomach with a shoe.
Died of the injuries
Robert Brooks died the day after the beating, and preliminary examinations have indicated the cause of death was “asphyxiation due to compression of the neck,” according to BBC.
The 13 correctional officers and the prison nurse who were involved in the incident have been fired.
It remains unclear why Brooks was brought to the examination room in the first place.
Not an isolated incident
The American non-profit organization American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) believes that the beating to death “is not an isolated incident”.
“Rather, it highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by correctional officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk,” Executive Director Donna Lieberman said in a statement, according to the BBC.