Police officers who put a hood over the head of a mentally distraught Black man, then pressed his body against the pavement until he stopped breathing will not face criminal charges after a grand jury declined to indict them, New York's attorney general announced Tuesday.
Daniel Prude, 41, died last March, several days after his encounter with police in Rochester, New York. Police initially described his death as a drug overdose. It went mostly unnoticed. But nightly protests erupted after body camera video was released nearly six months later following pressure from Prude's family.
Attorney General Letitia James, whose office took over the investigation, said her office had 鈥減resented the strongest case possible鈥� to the grand jury, but couldn鈥檛 persuade it that the officers had committed a crime.
鈥淚 know that the Prude family, the Rochester community and communities across the country will rightfully be disappointed by this outcome,鈥� said James, who
She said she was bound to respect the grand jury鈥檚 decision, but she also condemned a system that she said had 鈥渇rustrated efforts to hold law enforcement officers accountable for the unjustified killing of African Americans."
鈥淲hat binds these cases is a tragic loss of life in circumstances in which the death could have been avoided,鈥� said James, who, like the mayor of Rochester and the city鈥檚 current and former police chiefs, is Black.
鈥淥ne recognizes the influences of race, from the slave codes to Jim Crow, to lynching, to the war on crime, to the overincarceration of people of
Lawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude鈥檚 death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as 鈥渟egmenting.鈥� They claimed Prude鈥檚 use of PCP, which caused irrational
Calls were made to the officers鈥� attorneys. Matthew Rich, who represents four officers, said 鈥渨e鈥檙e still taking it in鈥� and that the attorneys would speak to the press later.
Hundreds of protesters gathered Tuesday evening on the street where Prude was detained.
The March 23 video of Prude鈥檚 fatal encounter with officers was initially withheld by police in part because of concerns it would inflame street demonstrations occurring nationwide over George Floyd鈥檚 death.
Ultimately released Sept. 4, it showed officers placing a mesh bag over Prude鈥檚 head to stop him from spitting after they detained him for running naked through the streets. Prude had been evaluated at a hospital for odd
One officer pushed Prude's face against the ground, while another officer pressed a knee to his back. The officers held him down for about two minutes until he fell unconscious. He was taken off life support a week later.
鈥淭he system failed Daniel Prude again," Prude family lawyer Elliot Shields said of the grand jury's decision. 鈥滻t failed him on March 22 when he was released from the hospital. It failed him on the night of March 23 when the police used deadly force against him. And it failed him again today."
Shields said Prude's brother, Joe Prude, was 鈥渉eartbroken.鈥�
Officers Troy Taladay, Paul Ricotta, Francisco Santiago, Andrew Specksgoor, Josiah Harris and Mark Vaughn, along with Sgt. Michael Magri, were suspended after Prude鈥檚 death became public. The officers will remain on leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, according to Rochester police chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan.
The Rochester police union said in a statement it would not immediately comment.
The grand jury decision isn't likely to end scrutiny of the Rochester Police Department, which has been heavily criticized over the past year over numerous incidents involving allegations of excessive force.
James, a Democrat, said that in addition to meeting with Prude鈥檚 brother, she wanted to speak with a 9-year-old girl who was recently pepper sprayed by city police officers responding to a family dispute.
The department has also been criticized for rough treatment of protesters last summer.
The U.S. Justice Department planned to review the attorney general鈥檚 findings, according to a joint statement from its Civil Rights Division, the U.S. attorney in western New York and the FBI.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 over,鈥� said Mike Johnson, a Rochester activist who joined the protest of the grand jury decision Tuesday evening. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this grand jury decision is the last say in seeking justice for this issue.鈥�
鈥淭his is just another slap in the face," said Johnson, noting that Tuesday was the anniversary of the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was chased and shot by armed men in Brunswick, Georgia, one year ago.
James said that for the sake of public transparency, she had asked a judge to unseal some records related to the grand jury proceeding.
She also issued a report recommending, among other things, that officers be trained to recognize the symptoms of excited delirium syndrome, which can make people vulnerable to cardiac arrest. The medical examiner and the attorney general鈥檚 expert both concluded that Prude was in a state of excited delirium because of his drug use.
The attorney general also called for communities to minimize or eliminate police responses to mental health calls and to find alternatives to the type of 鈥渟pit sock鈥� officers placed over Prude鈥檚 head. She said the mesh hood clearly added to Prude鈥檚 stress and agitation.
A police-practices expert hired by the attorney general found some of the officers鈥� actions, including the 鈥渟egmenting鈥� tactic, were reasonable 鈥� but the expert said keeping Prude on his stomach for three minutes, including nearly a minute after he鈥檇 apparently vomited, 鈥渨as unnecessary, unreasonable, and against accepted police practice,鈥� James鈥� office said in a report.
The county medical examiner listed the manner of death as homicide caused by 鈥渃omplications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint鈥� and cited PCP as a contributing factor.
Rochester's mayor, Lovely Warren, who fired police chief La鈥橰on Singletary over his handling of the Prude case, called the grand jury decision 鈥渉ard for many of us to understand."
鈥淭here are no words that can comfort a family who has lost their loved one in this tragic way," she said. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude鈥檚 death was not in vain.鈥�
Some activists said that they never expected the officers to face charges.
鈥淗istorically, we can see when Black and brown people are killed across this nation, most times there is no indictment. However, it isn鈥檛 any less offensive, any less hurtful, any less painful,鈥� said Ashley Gantt of Rochester, as she headed to protest the decision. 鈥淚鈥檓 disgusted."
Michael Hill And Carolyn Thompson, The Associated Press
