DANIEL PRUDE

An upstate New York police officer seen on video pinning down a Black man who later died could face departmental discipline.

Fifty years after the Attica prison uprising in New York, the families of slain and injured prison guards say they're still waiting for an apology from the state.

"What the investigation into Andrew Cuomo shows is that when her office wants to put resources towards conducting a thorough investigation, they know how to do that," an attorney for Prude's family said.

NEW YORK — Her voice heavy with emotion, Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, stepped onto a church dais in Rochester in February to announce that a grand jury had declined to indict the police officers who were involved in the death of a Black man in their custody. “I’m disappointed — extremely disappointed,” James said. Her office had presented the jurors with what she called an extensive investigation into the death of the man, Daniel Prude, whom the police pinned facedown on the pavement until he lost consciousness. “We sought a different outcome than the one the grand jury handed us today,” James said. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times But transcripts of the grand jury proceedings, released publicly by a judge last month at James’ request, tell a more complicated story. Grand jury proceedings almost always remain secret, and the transcripts of the inquiry into Prude’s death provide a rare view into the inner workings of the criminal justice system at a pivotal moment in the continuing national debate over police accountability. In a grand jury proceeding, prosecutors typically present a one-sided case in hopes of securing a criminal indictment. But during the inquiry into Prude’s death, lawyers from James’ office chose to present both sides of the case, effectively acting as prosecution and defense and telling the grand jury upfront that its purpose was to investigate the facts, not necessarily to indict. Some of the witnesses who were called by prosecutors appeared to absolve the officers of wrongdoing. The revelation prompted fierce criticism of James specifically and anger more broadly over a legal process that often seems to shield the police from criminal consequences. The transcripts underscore the crucial role that grand juries play in deciding whether police officers are charged — or more often, not charged — for encounters that turn deadly. The transcripts also illuminate the particular challenges of prosecuting officers, even for a law enforcement official like James, who campaigned on criminal justice reform and sued the New York Police Department this year over its handling of protests touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Only prosecutors may call witnesses during grand jury hearings, and jurors never hear from the defense. In the case involving Prude’s death, prosecutors from James’ office called police trainers who testified that the officers who restrained him did not violate protocol with their techniques. The state's lawyers also presented a California doctor who is known for defending police actions. He said the officers had not caused Prude’s death. Another expert witness, a professor from South Carolina, testified that the police had used unreasonable force by failing to roll Prude onto his back after he stopped resisting. The prosecutors also questioned two officers who were facing potential indictment, asking why they had resorted to hands-on restraint instead of trying to de-escalate the situation or show more compassion. At least one juror struggled to reconcile the contradictory testimony. “It seemed like one expert had an opinion that there was no improper anything done,” said a juror whose name was redacted from the transcript. “And then, another expert had an opinion that there was some — something that was not quite properly done, am I correct?” Prosecutors told the juror it was the jury’s job to decide whom to believe. The release of the transcripts just days before Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis officer, was convicted of murder in Floyd’s killing reignited outrage in Rochester, where the revelations surrounding Prude’s death touched off fiery protests last year. Citing the transcripts, some community leaders accused James’ office of deliberately presenting a weak case. James said in an interview that the investigation was an earnest effort to let the jury reach an independent conclusion. “It was really critically important that the grand jury engage in an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis of the facts,” she said, adding that the outcome was a result of laws that give police officers broad protections to use deadly force on the job. “These are incredibly tough cases to investigate and prosecute, but ultimately I respect the grand jury’s decision,” James said. “All of us continue to be disappointed by the criminal justice system as a whole.” On Friday, James proposed legislation that she said would strengthen police accountability. The proposal includes allowing officers to use force only as a last resort and establishing criminal penalties for officers who violate the guidelines. Prosecutors in cases where there may be a strong defense, particularly those that involve potential police misconduct, can present all sides to a grand jury; doing so can indicate how trial jurors may react to evidence. Whether James’ prosecutors presented the strongest case they could is difficult to determine, said Geoffrey Alpert, the expert from South Carolina who testified before the Rochester grand jury. “If the purpose of the grand jury is to get an indictment, then no, they could have called different witnesses,” Alpert said in an interview. “If the purpose of the grand jury was to give jurors several different perspectives, then they did.” But Michael Schiano, a lawyer for one of the officers, said that to him, it was as if the prosecutors put on a case for the defense. “Prosecutors put on the case that we would have put on anyway,” Schiano said. “They put on the witnesses we would have put on if there was a jury trial.” The transcripts show that two of the three Rochester officers who were facing potential indictment testified before the grand jury. Although the targets of investigations rarely testify, legal experts said it is more common in cases involving the police, particularly where an officer is claiming to have acted in self-defense. The officers testified that they decided to use force after Prude did not follow their instructions to stay on the ground. “We told him to calm down, and he’s telling us he wants to take our firearms,” one of the officers, whose name is redacted in the transcripts, said. “And then we tell him to stay down and he still tries to get up.” Prude encountered the Rochester police March 23, 2020, shortly after he became emotionally unstable and sprinted out of his brother’s home. Fearful for Prude’s safety, his brother called 911. Responding officers found Prude several blocks away. He was naked and spitting and claiming that he had the coronavirus. They put a mesh hood, or spit sock, over his head and handcuffed him, then pressed his head to the pavement until he lost consciousness. Although it was snowing, no one covered his body or helped him when he vomited, body camera footage shows. Prude died a week later. The medical examiner determined that his death was caused by factors that included oxygen deprivation and PCP drug intoxication. Body camera footage showed Prude becoming more agitated after the officers placed the hood over his head. The officers said they feared contracting the coronavirus. Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former high-ranking official in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, defended James, saying the attorney general was constrained in her ability to prosecute the Rochester officers because of the broad legal protections provided to the police. “Until that law changes, this will keep happening over and over again,” Friedman Agnifilo said. Prosecutors in Minnesota did not have to rely on a grand jury to charge Chauvin. Their counterparts in about half of all states, including New York, can only bring felony charges after convincing grand jurors that there is probable cause that crime was committed, a fairly routine exercise. When the defendant is a police officer, the outcome is less certain. About 1,000 people a year in the United States die in encounters with law enforcement, but few officers are ever charged with murder or manslaughter for deaths in the line of duty. Of those that are, only one-third are convicted. Six years ago, after a Staten Island grand jury failed to indict the officer involved in the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man who was placed in a police chokehold, Gov. Andrew Cuomo established a special unit in the attorney general’s office to prosecute such cases. The idea was to remove such prosecutions from local district attorneys, who often work closely with the police. But in the 43 investigations that unit has investigated since then, only three officers have been charged, according to the attorney general’s office. About one-quarter of the investigations remain active. Prude’s family did not see how he died until the summer. The video became public in September after their lawyers demanded that city officials release the body camera footage. Revelations of an apparent cover-up led to the firing of Rochester’s police chief and the suspension of the seven officers involved. James brought the case before a grand jury shortly after that. The transcripts revealed James’ selection of an important expert witness: Gary Vilke, a San Diego doctor who is typically hired by the police to defend them. (All witnesses’ names were redacted in the transcript, but some were easily identifiable.) Vilke testified that the weight of the officers pressing on Prude’s back and legs did not impair his breathing, the transcript showed, leading him to conclude that the officers had not contributed to Prude’s death. In an interview last month with a local Minneapolis television station, Vilke said it was “doubtful” that Chauvin had caused Floyd’s death. Peter Neufeld, a civil rights lawyer who has sued police officers, said it was “incomprehensible” that prosecutors chose Vilke, whom he described as a reliable defender of police. “You’re unfairly undermining your case before you get started,” Neufeld said. Vilke did not respond to multiple requests for comment. James said that Vilke had offered his expert opinion and did not tell the grand jury how to vote. She added, however, that his comments about Chauvin, which came after the case involving Prude concluded, were troubling and would “factor into any selection moving forward.” After the grand jury decided not to charge the Rochester officers with homicide, James met privately with local Black faith leaders. The Rev. Myra Brown, pastor of Spiritus Christi Church, said she confronted James there about her office’s failure to obtain an indictment. James said it was her office’s ethical obligation to lay out all the facts, Brown said. To people like Brown, James’ words of extreme disappointment ring hollow now. “Clearly she wasn’t disappointed enough to send in any real scholarship presenting an airtight case to at least get us an indictment,” Brown said, “and at least get the Prude family their day in court.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

The husband of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was awaiting arraignment on criminal charges Thursday following a police search of the house he shares with the mayor. Timothy Granison, Warren's husband, was to be arraigned in Rochester City Court at 9:30 a.m., a spokesperson for the Monroe County district attorney said.

State police troopers spent several hours searching the home of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren on Wednesday, saying it was part of a criminal investigation but disclosing no details. Troopers closed off the block around Warren's home with police tape and could be seen taking items from the residence, according to video recordings by journalists at the scene. State Police Maj. Barry Chase said he could release no additional information about the presence of law enforcement at the home.

Stanley Martin wants to rethink Rochester police — a radical new plan to abolish the police gradually. Others also talk about "reimagining" police, though they mean the same word very differently.

Police responding to a person gripped by a mental health or drug crisis can lead to tragic results.

Law enforcement leaders say the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for George Floyd's death is a step toward restoring trust in the criminal justice system and repairing relations with communities.

The attorney for the former Minneapolis police officer accused of murder and manslaughter in George Floyd’s death outlined the disputed concept of excited delirium at trial.

The grand jury ultimately rejected criminally negligent homicide charges against the three officers, transcripts show.

Newly released transcripts show that prosecutors overseeing a grand jury investigation into the death of Daniel Prude last year in Rochester, New York, undercut the case for criminal charges with testimony from a medical expert who said police officers who held Prude to the ground didn’t do anything wrong.

A white former police officer is being charged with second-degree manslaughter in the killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, just three days after the Black man was shot during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb.

The attorney for the former Minneapolis police officer on trial in George Floyd’s death has revisited the disputed concept of excited delirium.

The attorney for the officer on trial in George Floyd’s death has raised the concept of excited delirium as testimony examines whether reasonable force was used on Floyd.

Lawmakers in several states are proposing legislation that would require more training for police in how to interact with someone in a mental crisis following some high-profile deaths.

It's been one year since police in Rochester, New York, were called to help Daniel Prude as he was experiencing what his family called a mental health crisis. Joe Prude, Daniel Prude's brother, helped rally people for Tuesday's demonstrations, saying in a video message that the day should be a time of "no school, no work." We join the Prude family in calling for a day of action and remembrance on the one year anniversary of Daniel Prude’s murder by the RPD. Call out of work, walk out of class, and join us in the streets to demand justice for Daniel Prude! Jones' family has said that Jones was suffering from a mental health crisis after recent deaths in the family.

Singletary's characterization "likely impacted" how city officials viewed the matter, the report said. Warren claimed to the public that Singletary initially told her that Prude's death was a "drug overdose," but Friday's report said he never told her that. Lawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude's death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as "segmenting." Prude's death sparked several weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

Singletary's characterization "likely impacted" how city officials viewed the matter, the report said. Warren claimed to the public that Singletary initially told her that Prude's death was a "drug overdose," but Friday's report said he never told her that. Lawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude's death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as "segmenting." Prude's death sparked several weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

The report said Singletary told the mayor the officers restrained Prude, but the chief “consistently deemphasized” the role of restraints in Prude's death, and his statements to officials didn't “capture the disturbing tenor of the entire encounter." AdA lawyer for Singletary said, under a first review of the report, Singletary “was truthful in his statements" to Warren and other city officials. “He never participated in any cover-up nor did he intentionally downplay the circumstances" around Prude's death, Michael Tallon said in a statement. Warren told the public Singletary initially told her Prude’s death was a “drug overdose,” but Friday’s report said he never told her that. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude’s death.

The family claims in the suit in U.S. District Court that both the actions of the Rochester police and an "attempted cover-up" by the department and city government violated Prude's constitutional rights, attorneys for the family said. "Our hearts are broken by his death, but this lawsuit has given us hope for the future." Stephen Schwarz, a lawyer for Prude's children, told CBS News in February there's a different burden of proof in the civil case over the criminal one. The incident went mostly unpublicized until nearly six months later, when police body camera video was released following pressure from Prude's family. On Monday, Schwarz cited a culture in Rochester of "deliberate indifference to the rights of Blacks and Latinos who encounter its police officers."

Simmons suggested that the city deny the request because the case was still under investigation by the state attorney general's office. In an unsent draft of that email, Warren excoriated Singletary for having "grossly underplayed" Prude's death by first describing it to her a drug overdose. "Quite frankly, I would have expected the Chief of Police to have shown me this video in March," Warren wrote in the draft. Prude's death has sparked nearly two weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

Former Rochester, New York, Police Chief La'Ron Singletary has accused the city's mayor of pressuring him to lie about the series of events following the death of Daniel Prude and firing him after he refused. The circumstances surrounding Prude's death were not made public until September, when the family released the bodycam footage and supporting evidence. "On September 7, Mayor Warren asked me to withhold full and truthful information from the City Council investigation into the matter of Daniel Prude," Singletary wrote. Singletary also claimed that Warren's narrative about the months following Prude's death has "damaged my reputation for honesty, integrity, and truthfulness." The New York attorney general is still investigating Prude's death.

Daniel Prude APDisturbing video that surfaced months after Prude's death showed Prude naked on a snowy street, wearing a "spit hood" over his head during his encounter with police. After calling for more grand jury transparency earlier in the day, James said Tuesday night that a judge had approved her request to unseal and publicly release the grand jury minutes related to the investigation of Prude's death. James said the state should review spit hoods and whether they are appropriate in mental health response cases. James said her office will release a comprehensive report about Prude's death including a minute-by-minute account of the encounter with police. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude's death was not in vain."

CORRECTS TO BROTHER NOT UNCLE OF DANIEL PRUDE - FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, brother of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. He always showed me and my brother and sisters how much he loved us," Prude's oldest son, Nathaniel McFarland, said in a statement. The death went mostly unpublicized until nearly six months later, when police body camera video was released following pressure from Prude’s family. Ad“You could hardly find an example of a worse response to a mental health crisis when what happened to Daniel Prude that night,” Piers said during a video news conference with McFarland, who did not speak. He did not immediately respond later in the day after Prude family attorneys outlined their claims in a news conference.

A Rochester police officer has been placed on administrative duty after using pepper spray on the woman, authorities said Friday. Ad“Both incidents involved Black mothers. Both involved Black children. Both involved Black people obviously in crisis. Both involved officers using pepper spray on or around a Black child,” PAB Chair Shani Wilson said during a video news conference Friday.

The Daniel Prude case marks the third time a grand jury has declined to bring charges in a case handled by the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit, created in 2015 amid an outcry over police skirting punishment in the deaths of unarmed Black people. And they note that it is more common than not for prosecutors to run into obstacles when pursuing charges against police. She said the unit should be more aggressive about bringing charges, for the sake of the families seeking justice. It has brought murder charges against two officers, but most of its investigations haven't resulted in prosecutions. The officers, since suspended, held him down for about two minutes until Prude stopped breathing.

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, brother of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. Prude said Wednesday that videos recorded by Rochester Police officers' body cameras after they caught up with Daniel Prude, naked on a frigid night last March, are irrefutable proof of a crime. The officers’ attorneys said Daniel Prude’s use of PCP, which caused irrational behavior, was “the root cause” of his death. AdThe attorney general also called for communities to minimize or eliminate police responses to mental health calls. Nathaniel McFarland, one of Daniel Prude's five children, said he was not surprised that the officers weren't charged.

Grand jury decides no indictments for Rochester officers involved in Daniel Prude's death Protests erupted in Rochester, New York overnight after a grand jury decided not to indict any of the seven officers involved in Daniel Prude's death. Prude died last March after being restrained by police. Jericka Duncan reports.

No charges for Rochester officers in Daniel Prude's death A grand jury decided against charging the officers involved in the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who was restrained by Rochester police last March.

Daniel Prude APDisturbing video that surfaced months after Prude's death showed Prude naked on a snowy street, wearing a "spit hood" over his head during his encounter with police. After calling for more grand jury transparency earlier in the day, James said Tuesday night that a judge had approved her request to unseal and publicly release the grand jury minutes related to the investigation of Prude's death. James said the state should review spit hoods and whether they are appropriate in mental health response cases. James said her office will release a comprehensive report about Prude's death including a minute-by-minute account of the encounter with police. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude's death was not in vain."

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, uncle of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. AdLawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude’s death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as “segmenting.” They claimed Prude’s use of PCP, which caused irrational behavior, was “the root cause” of his death. “The system failed Daniel Prude again," Prude family lawyer Elliot Shields said of the grand jury's decision. Michael Magri, were suspended after Prude’s death became public. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude’s death was not in vain.”AdSome activists said that they never expected the officers to face charges.

The case has spurred outrage as the latest example of law enforcement mistreatment of Black people, and one that shows even Black children are not exempt. Research shows Black children are often viewed as being older than they are, and are more likely to be seen as threatening or dangerous. Advocates have long said that leads to police treating them in ways they wouldn’t dream of treating white children. A study published in the journal Pediatrics in late 2020 found Black children and teenagers were six times as likely to die from police gunfire as white children. New York isn't the only place where police treatment of Black children has been a flashpoint.

Rochester, New York police released two body-camera videos of officers restraining the girl. According a local news outlet, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren expressed her concern for the child. (Rochester Police Department via AP)The city of Rochester has suspended police officers seen in body-camera videos spraying a chemical “irritant” in the face of a distraught and handcuffed 9-year-old girl, officials announced Monday. The city did not specify how many officers were suspended. “There is no conceivable justification for the Rochester police to subject a 9-year-old to pepper spray, period," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said Monday.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren walks out of city court after her arraignment in Rochester, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. Warren, who has faced calls to resign over her city's handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude at the hands of police, pleaded not guilty Monday to campaign finance charges dating to her 2017 reelection campaign. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who has faced calls to resign over her city’s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude at the hands of police, pleaded not guilty Monday to campaign finance charges dating to her 2017 reelection campaign. “She welcomes the opportunity for the public to see whether the district attorney’s charges hold water,” attorney Joseph Damelio said outside court after the proceeding. Supporters who gathered outside court said they still have faith in Warren.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was indicted Friday on charges she broke campaign finance rules and committed fraud during her reelection campaign three years ago, adding another layer of crisis in a city that has been reeling over its handling of a police killing. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley also announced charges against Warren’s campaign treasurer, Albert Jones Jr., and the treasurer of her political action committee, Rosalind Brooks-Harris. The Democrat is midway through her second term as the first female and second Black mayor of Rochester, a city of more than 200,000 by Lake Ontario. Elections officials began fielding complaints about Warren's campaign finances in 2017, when Warren defeated two challengers in a Democratic primary prior to her reelection. “Lovely Warren is still the mayor of the city of Rochester,” she said.

___7 p.m.Police in Louisville, Kentucky, have blocked the route of a Breonna Taylor protest march, warning demonstrators they could face arrest for unlawful assembly. Protesters have taken to the streets around the country after the grand jury announced its decision Wednesday. ___11:15 p.m.A protest has ended outside a Louisville church where demonstrators had rallied against a grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case. Protesters have taken to the streets around the country after the grand jury announced its decision Wednesday. ___11:15 p.m.A protest has ended outside a Louisville church where demonstrators had rallied against a grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case.

FILE- In this March 23, 2020 image made from police body camera video provided by Roth and Roth LLP, a Rochester police officer puts a hood over the head of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. After seeing the video, Warren emailed Singletary that she was “outraged” at the conduct of the officer who pressed Prude's head against the ground, Mark Vaughn, and that he should face an immediate disciplinary investigation. In an unsent draft of that email, Warren excoriated Singletary for having “grossly underplayed” Prude's death by first describing it to her a drug overdose. “Quite frankly, I would have expected the Chief of Police to have shown me this video in March,” Warren wrote in the draft. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude’s death.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren fired the police chief and suspended her top lawyer and communications director Monday in the continuing upheaval over the suffocation death of Daniel Prude. “This initial look has shown what so many have suspected, that we have a pervasive problem in the Rochester Police Department,” Warren said. “I have apologized to the Prude family and this community for the failures that happened along the way, including my own,” Warren said. “As mayor, I own these failures.”Roj said he accepted the suspension, but claimed he was not aware of what happened to Prude until Aug. 4. He said Singletary told him in an email of an ongoing criminal investigation and that the mayor was already informed.

The comments from Michelle Bachelet came in a catch-all speech to open the latest session of the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council on Monday. She also raised concerns about the human rights situation in Myanmar, Nicaragua and Venezuela, among other places on her agenda. Many see the law as Beijing’s boldest move yet to remove a legal firewall between the semi-autonomous territory of Hong Kong and the mainland’s Communist Party system. “The Hong Kong authorities have consistently stated that the law is not intended to impact negatively on the peaceful exercise of human rights by Hong Kong residents,” said Bachelet. She said her office had documented 47 killings of human rights defenders in Colombia this year.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Top police leaders in Rochester are retiring en masse amid criticism of the city's handling of the the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, Mayor Lovely Warren said Tuesday. LaRon Singletary, the citys police chief, is among those retiring, as is Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and possibly other senior commanders, Warren said. Warren made the surprise announcement of the retirements at a City Council briefing being held online. Council members had expected the chief to appear in person to discuss ongoing protests over Prude's death. His death sparked outrage after his relatives last week released police body camera video and written reports they obtained through a public records request.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Naked except for spit hoods in a reference to the killing of Daniel Prude, several protesters sat outside Rochester's police headquarters Monday morning to push for police accountability, local news outlets reported. Seven police officers were suspended Thursday, and state Attorney General Letitia James said Saturday she would form a grand jury and conduct an "exhaustive investigation into Prude's death. Warren and Police Chief LaRon Singletary have faced calls for their resignations over the delay in releasing details of Prudes death. Protesters gathered in a Rochester park Monday evening before moving to the city's Public Safety Building by nightfall, for a sixth consecutive night of demonstrations. On Sunday, police said more than 1,000 protesters marched to the Public Safety Building on a night more peaceful than the rest, with community elders acting as a buffer between officers and protesters.

Warren suspended the seven officers involved in Prude's death last week after his family released police video from the March night when he was restrained on a city street. "The mayor and RPD must stop these warfare tactics now.The marches took place as New York's attorney general announced Saturday that a grand jury would investigate Prude's death. Protesters have called on Warren and Singletary to step down over the delay in releasing details of Prude's death. They've also demanded police accountability and legislation to change how authorities respond to mental health emergencies. But she said the city will double the availability of mental health professionals and work with Rochesters Commission on Racial and Structural Equity, or RASE, to re-envision the police department and how it responds to mental health crises.

Demonstrators march through the streets in Rochester, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, protesting the death of Daniel Prude. Having police respond can be a recipe for disaster, The National Alliance on Mental Illness said in a statement Friday. Prudes death is yet another harrowing tragedy, but a story not unfamiliar to us, the advocacy group said. Activists have marched nightly in the city of 210,000 on Lake Ontario since police body camera videos of the encounter with Prude were released this week by his family. As they had the night before, officers doused activists at police headquarters with a chemical spray to drive them from barricades around the building.

But Prude's death is the second one involving spit hoods to surface since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a national reckoning on racism and policing. Floyd's death did not involve a spit hood. Police handcuffed and placed a spit hood on the head of a naked man also in distress. In another similar episode, a 45-year-old man died in 2015 after police in Bernalillo, New Mexico, placed him in a spit hood, possibly incorrectly. Prison guards have also used spit hoods, sometimes to deadly effect.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the suspensions at a news conference Thursday amid outrage that city officials had previously kept quiet about Prude's death. Journalists were among those hit by pellets during the confrontation, which came on the second day of peaceful demonstrations over Prude's death. The mayor said she only became aware that Prude's death involved the use of force on Aug. 4. Warren said the seven officers would still be paid because of contract rules and that she was taking the action against the advice of attorneys. Prude's death happened just as the coronavirus was raging out of control in New York and received no public attention at the time.

Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after the encounter with police in Rochester. Prude had been taken into custody for a mental health evaluation about eight hours before the encounter that led to his death. Calls to the union representing Rochester police officers, and to the organizations attorney, rang unanswered Wednesday. But his brother Joe Prude said he was only at the hospital for a few hours, according to the reports. How did you see him and not directly say, The man is defenseless, buck naked on the ground.

But Prude's death is the second one involving spit hoods to surface since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a national reckoning on racism and policing. Floyd's death did not involve a spit hood. Police handcuffed and placed a spit hood on the head of a naked man also in distress. In another similar episode, a 45-year-old man died in 2015 after police in Bernalillo, New Mexico, placed him in a spit hood, possibly incorrectly. Prison guards have also used spit hoods, sometimes to deadly effect.

Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after the encounter with police in Rochester. Not for my brother to get lynched, Prudes brother, Joe Prude, said at a news conference. Then, they put a white spit hood over his head, a device intended to protect officers from a detainee's saliva. Then the officers slam Prude's head into the street. Another remarks, He feels pretty cold.His head had been held down by an officer for just over two minutes, the video shows.