No charges will be filed for the death of New York man Daniel Prude, who was seen on camera footage of the police body tied to the ground with a spit bag over his head.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that a grand jury voted not to indict any of the Rochester Police officers involved in the incident.
Prude, 41, was stopped by agents in March 2020 during a mental health emergency. His death, due to complications from asphyxiation after he was taken from life, was considered murder.
Daniel Prude was in a mental health crisis and what he needed was compassion, care and assistance from trained professionals, James said in a statement. “Tragically, he didn’t receive any of those things.”
Body cameras, released by Prude’s family in September, showed that Prude appeared to pass out while pinned to the ground.
The delay in the release of the video has prompted James’s office to implement a new policy of releasing camera images of the body earlier in the investigation process.
James said on Tuesday that the current deadly force laws have “created a system that has utterly and abject abandoned Mr. Prude and so many others before him,” adding that serious reforms are needed in the “criminal justice system as a whole.” “.
“While I know that the Prude family, the Rochester community and communities across the country will be rightly devastated and disappointed, we must respect this decision,” said James.
Following the announcement, hundreds of protesters gathered on Tuesday night where Prude met police last year, according to ABC Rochester affiliate WHAM-TV. They marched shouting, “No justice, no peace.”
In the midst of the protest, Rochester Police asked that anyone “who wishes to protest peacefully should refrain from participating in or being associated with anyone who is acting or committing acts of violence.”
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said in a statement that the decision is “difficult for many of us to understand.”
“Today’s findings will not undo the damage done nor return Mr. Prude to his loved ones. And we offer our full prayers and condolences to his children and his family,” said Warren. “There are no words that can comfort a family that has lost their loved one in this tragic way. Our actions will ensure that Daniel Prude’s death was not in vain.”
Lovely reiterated James’ insistence that policies and procedures must change to “correct the inequalities in the system.”
James’s office has released a comprehensive report detailing the events that allegedly took place on March 22 and 23 “to provide maximum transparency in the matter,” a statement said.
More answers about what happened behind closed doors to the grand jury will also come as James announced Tuesday evening that a judge has granted a motion to release the proceedings.
“This is a critical step in bringing about the change that is so badly needed,” she says said on Twitter
Her office will release the proceedings “as soon as the judge approves,” she said.
Lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who represent Crude’s family, said in a joint statement that they are “deeply disappointed” that the agents involved will not be prosecuted.
“This tragedy could have been avoided if the officers had been properly trained, but also used human decency and common sense to treat Mr. Prude with compassion and give him the medical care he deserved,” the lawyers said. “We will continue to advocate for justice in the civil courts, while also pursuing reform of the federal police force so that these ongoing tragedies against black citizens end once and for all.”
Former Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary was fired in September for criticizing the handling of Prude’s death. Seven officers involved in the incident were also suspended that month and will remain on leave pending an internal investigation, Interim Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan of Rochester and the Rochester Police Locust Club, the department’s police association, said in a statement. separate statements.
Herriott-Sullivan said she has “a deep and unshakable respect for our judicial system and a fair trial for all persons,” but that the department will continue to update its policies and training from de-escalation, duty to intervene and detention practices. for 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 changes, and that is still my goal,” said Herriott-Sullivan. “I am proud of the progress we are making and of RPD officers who are open to learning alternative methods and working together towards a common goal to prevent this from happening again.”
Lawyers representing several of the suspended officers said they were undergoing mandated training.
“We have said from the outset that our customers have done nothing wrong,” James Nobles, representing one of the officers, told WHAM on Tuesday. “They followed their proceedings, they called for their training, they did what they were called for. And you know, 23 civilians from this community heard evidence for weeks 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 this, they should have,” Matt Rich, representing four of the officers, told the agency. “What they did was, during a crisis in a stressful situation, they reverted to their training as instructed by their superiors.”