'Shocking and disturbing': NY officials release footage of inmate's fatal beating

Body-camera footage of correctional officers fatally beating an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York has been released.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released the footage Friday, which she described as “shocking and disturbing,” CNN reported.

The footage was made public on the attorney general’s website and shows a visibly battered prisoner named Robert Brooks handcuffed with his hands behind his back in a medical examination room. A group of correctional officers can be seen struggling and physically assaulting the man, including punching and kicking him while on an exam table with his hands behind his back.

Brooks, 43, died hours later in the early morning of December 10, according to media reports. He had been incarcerated since 2017 on a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault and housed at the Marcy Correctional Center, a medium-security state prison.

“As Attorney General, you have my word that we will use every possible tool available to us to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly,” James said Friday, according to CNN. “These videos are shocking and disturbing, and I advise all to take appropriate care before choosing to watch them,” she said.

The state’s corrections department has received directives from Gov. Kathy Hochul to fire the 14 workers involved in the incident, which has also sparked an investigation by the New York attorney general, CNN reported.

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The body camera footage was viewed by Brooks’ family before its public release, attorney Elizabeth Mazur told CNN.

“As expected, watching the horrific and violent final moments of Robert’s life was devastating for his loved ones, and will be disturbing to anyone who views the video following its release by the Attorney General’s Office,” Mazur said in a statement to the outlet. “We will not rest until we have secured justice for Robert’s memory, and safety for the prisoners at Marcy Correctional Facility.”

In a Friday statement to CNN, NYSCOPBA, the union that represents New York correctional officers, described the footage of the fatal assault as “incomprehensible to say the least” and “certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day.”