The death of New York man Daniel Prude, who was pinned to the ground on police camera footage with a spit bag over his head, is not being charged.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that a grand jury has voted not to charge any of the Rochester police officers involved in the incident.
Prude, 41, was confined by officers in March 2020 during an emergency for mental health. His death, due to asphyxia complications after being taken off from subsistence, was decided as a murder.
“Daniel Prude was at risk of a mental health crisis and what he needed was compassion, care and help from trained professionals,” James said in a statement. “Tragically, he received none of those things.”
On the camera footage released by Prude’s family in September, it appears that Prude appears unconscious while pinned to the ground.
The delay in the release of the video led to James’ office introducing a new policy in which the camera recordings would be released earlier in the investigation process.
James said on Tuesday that the current laws on lethal forces “have created a system that Mr. Prude and so many others before him totally and utterly let down.
“While I know the Prude family, the Rochester community and communities across the country will rightly be devastated and disappointed, we must respect this decision,” James said.
After the announcement, hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday night at the place where Prude met police last year, according to ABC Rochester subsidiary WHAM-TV. They marched as they shouted, “No justice, no peace.”
Amid the protest, the Rochester Police Department called for anyone who “wants to protest peacefully to refrain from participating in or engaging in any act of violence or violence.”
Lovely Warren, Mayor of Rochester, said in a statement that the decision is difficult for many of us to understand.
“Today’s findings will not undo the damage done and that Mr Prude will not return to his loved ones.” There are no words that a family that has lost their loved one in this tragic way can do not comfort. Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude’s death was not in vain. “
James insisted that policies and procedures be changed to correct the inequalities in the system.
James’s office released a comprehensive report with detailed descriptions of the events that allegedly took place on March 22 and 23 “to provide maximum transparency in the matter”, according to a statement.
More answers about what happened behind closed doors to the grand jury will also come as James announced Tuesday night that a judge will grant a motion to release the proceedings.
“This is a critical step in making the change that is so much needed,” she said. said on Twitter.
Her office will release the proceedings “as soon as the judge authorizes,” she said.
Attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, representing Crude’s family, said in a joint statement that they were “deeply disappointed” that the officers involved would not face criminal charges.
“This tragedy could have been avoided if officers had been properly trained but also used basic human decency and common sense to treat Mr Prude with compassion and get the medical help he deserved,” the lawyers said. “We will continue to advocate for justice in the civil courts, while also striving for federal police reform so that these ongoing tragedies against black citizens are ended once and for all.”
Former Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary was fired in September for criticizing Prude’s death. Seven officers involved in the incident were also suspended that month and will remain on leave pending an internal investigation, Rochester Interim Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan and the Rochester Police Locust Club, the police union, said in a statement. separate statements said.
Herriott-Sullivan said she “has a deep and unwavering respect for our legal system and due process for all persons”, but that the department will continue to update its policies and training, from degeneration, duty to intervention and practices for the maintenance of mental hygiene.
“I want the family and our community to know that I have accepted the role of interim police chief to make real, systemic change, and that is still my goal,” Herriott-Sullivan said. “I am proud of the progress we are making and of RPD officials because they are open to alternative methods and to working together on a common goal to make it happen again.”
Lawyers representing several of the suspended officers said they were following their instructions.
“We have said from the beginning that our clients have done nothing wrong,” James Nobles, who represents one of the officers, told WHAM on Tuesday. “They followed their procedure after which they asked for their training, they did what they were asked for. And you know, 23 citizens of this community heard weeks of testimony and dozens of witnesses and came to the same conclusion.”
“It’s easy to sit back and say they should have been nicer and they should have said it, they should have done it,” Matt Rich, who represents four of the officers, told the station. “What they did was that in a crisis in a high-stress situation, they fell back on their training, which was ordered by their superiors.”