New York Attorney General To Empanel Grand Jury In Daniel Prude Death Investigation

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Demonstrators lock arms as they march for Daniel Prude on Friday in Rochester, N.Y. Prude died after being arrested on March 23 by Rochester police officers, who had placed a «spit hood over his head and pinned him to the ground while restraining him.

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Rochester, N.Y., Mayor Suspends Officers Over Asphyxiation Death Of Daniel Prude

On March 23, Prude had just been released from Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital after expressing suicidal thoughts. He was with brother, Joe Prude, when he left the house in below-freezing temperatures wearing just long johns and a tank top. His brother called Rochester police for help. Officers found Prude naked and in distress, allegedly smashing windows and saying he had the coronavirus, according to police reports.

The newly released body camera footage shows officers ordering Prude to lie down on the snowy road, which he did. Officers cuffed his hands behind his back, but Prude grew agitated. Officers placed a «spit hood over his head, intended to protect others from possible infection. The footage showed officers restraining Prude by holding his feet and head down, and putting a knee on his back. Prude fell unconscious, according to police reports, and died a week later.

«Everything that they did, they didn’t have to do, Joe Prude told NPR earlier this week. «That excessive force they used on him, the pushup stands on his neck, the knee on his back, holding his legs, that wasn’t called for. They didn’t have no dignity in what they was doing to my brother. They treated my brother like he was an animal in the street. A stray.

The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause of death as «complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint and ruled the manner of death as «homicide.

NPR’s Brian Mann contributed reporting.