ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The son of an inmate who died after a prolonged beating by New York prison guards said in a federal lawsuit Wednesday that his father’s attackers “systematically and casually beat him to death” in a correctional system that tolerates violence.
Robert L. Brooks Sr., 43, died on Dec. 10, a day after the beating at Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York. Body camera video shows officers repeatedly punching and kicking Brooks, whose hands were cuffed behind his back. Officers struck him in the chest with a shoe and lifted him by the neck and dropped him while employees who were watching the beating appeared indifferent.
His son, Robert L. Brooks Jr., sued the group of more than a dozen guards implicated in the attack, as well as the head of the upstate facility at that time and the commissioner of the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.
“I want the name Robert L. Brooks to be known forever and not just for his last final moments,” Brooks Jr. said at a news conference. He described feeling helpless and devastated while watching the video.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleges that defendants at the prison used excessive force and were indifferent to his serious medical need. It also claims gross negligence and wrongful death.
An email seeking comment was sent to state corrections officials Wednesday.
New York’s attorney general this month appointed a special prosecutor to investigate Brooks’ death. Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick took over the case as a special prosecutor after Attorney General Letitia James recused herself, citing her office’s representation of several officers in separate civil lawsuits.
The results of Brooks’ autopsy have not been made publicly available. But preliminary findings from a medical examination indicate “concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another,” according to court filings.
The lawsuit says the beating was the sole cause of Brooks’ death.
The lawsuit notes that a watchdog group in 2023 reported “rampant abuse by staff” at Marcy after interviewing people incarcerated there in October 2022. The Correctional Association of New York said they were told of physical assaults in locations without cameras, such as between the gates, in vans and in showers. A guard told one new arrival that this was a “‘hands-on facility,’ we’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing,” according to the report.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has ordered state officials to initiate proceedings to fire employees implicated in the attack. Fifteen correctional officers and two nurses were suspended without pay. One officer quit. Hochul also appointed a new leader for the prison 200 miles (320 kilometers) northwest of New York City.
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Associated Press writer Michael Hill contributed from Altamont, New York.