'Shocking' footage shows handcuffed inmate who died after prison guards beat him
'Shocking' footage shows handcuffed inmate who died after prison guards beat him
New York correctional officers are under investigation after "shocking" footage shows handcuffed inmate who died after prison guards beat him
Summary
Footage released by the New York Attorney General shows corrections officers at Marcy Correctional Facility brutally beating handcuffed inmate Robert Brooks on December 9.
Brooks, restrained throughout the 15-minute assault, died the next day, with preliminary autopsy findings citing asphyxia and actions of others as the cause of death.
14 staff members have been terminated or suspended. Some officers failed to properly activate body cameras, violating state policy.
Advocates highlight systemic abuse and racial discrimination in New York prisons, while the investigation continues.
Why haven't all 14 been arrested on murder charges?
Well you know--they gotta investigate first. They have to get their stories straight, make sure everybody knows the script, determine a decent scapegoat to heap all the blame onto... then on game day they have to work together to ensure the fewest deal with any repercussions and then distance themselves from those people. Most of them will be fine, heck they might not even manage to make anyone accountable with proper fuckery. We'll see! (years from now, long after the damage is done)
How cynical. But are prisoners people?
(Even if they’re Mexican, black, or didn’t have at least one citizen parent?)
A Christmas miracle!!
(Jk, it's just a coincidence - it's an all-year-round perk ... works better when there is no evidence tho)/s
I am a former correctional officer of the texas department of justice and this exact same situation happened and I too stood by and listened as it happened. I helped escort the man from his cell to medical. I stood by listening to the other guard talk about how much of his ass he would be kicking. I stood there as they took him into a cameraless backroom and listened as they beat that man handcuffed. I stood to stop it, thoughts of pulling my pepper spray and going in there and just letting loose. A sergeant told me to sit back down and I did. I was not physically overpowered. I sat back down, and I listened. The only difference in this is that my victim didn't die. I reported it afterwards. I reported it to the warden, to the state, to the media. Warden tried to reassign me back under the command of the person I accused in the most dangerous part of the prison. The state sent an investigator but nobody talked but me, not even my victim. I sent everything I had to local media and prison rights groups and heard NOTHING back. No one cared. It happened all the time, it was sanctioned, it happens in every prison in this country. The only difference is that this man died and the countless others did not.
I look at those 14 names and I cannot help but feel I deserve to be on it. I was never punished for my cowardice. I quit, I say ACAB, I tell my story but I was not and never will be punished for my inaction because no one cares about an inmate being beaten by a guard unless he fucking dies.
It happened to me decades ago. My PARENTS didn't care.
"Well what did you say to make them so angry?"
I was still a teenager, and cops with guns and nightsticks had to beat me up while I was being processed and wearing handcuffs, all because I was "running my mouth".
ACAB
Mine didnt either. I walked out of that prison immediately after and called my dad, the person I trusted the most in the world just to have him tell me to go back inside. My heart shattered. In that moment I realized I was truly alone in this situation.
"You — against the atom, the charm and the spin. Where the whole world failed — matter failed to bend to human will; human will failed to get out of bed and tie its laces"
I'm sorry that happened to you. I wish I could be something more than sorry.
You do not deserve to be on that list. You are a good person despite your former profession. The fact that you were able to realize how fucked up things were, to leave, to literally put your safety on the line to try to fix it, make you better than most men on this earth.
Thank you. ACAB (but not the ones that quit from the injustice 😉)
Edit- anyone know a guy who can get this guy on the news to talk about this case and how it's endemic to the system?
Regardless of my feelings after the fact, I do belong on that list. I did not do anything in the moment it was required of me. Part of it is the guilt yes, but I think this feeling mainly stems from the wish that all people involved should face punishment. And if they should, then I should even if I was the only one who reported it, talked about it, didn't commit perjury and continue their crimes against humanity for the sake of fucking health insurance.
Nevertheless I appreciate you. I expected the same vitriol currently being sent towards these people who did the same thing as me in the moment and all I have gotten is a thank you and "your a good person". It's producing emotions hard to process in the PTSD laden state that this news has sent me into but I appreciate the thought and I take it in kind.
As for speaking about it, I am willing to talk to anyone and everyone who'd listen. I just don't think anyone with a platform is listening. I don't think anyone cares. In a day or two another tragedy will occur and the only ones who will care will be those who wish to bury it and the one being buried. So it goes.
Reach out to your local FBI field office and tell them you have a potential civil rights case. Hopefully they will do their job.
I did. They didn't. There's no evidence, no cameras, no one would talk. Not my partner through training, not any of the doctors, none of the nurses, none of the sergeants or lieutenant, not even the inmate. It's like it didn't happen. That's why people say ACAB. Because it is every single fucking one.
Forgive yourself. You quit. You told the story, possibly innumerable times. Thank you for that.
This will continue because of cowardice, unfortunately. Integrity is one of the only things that separates moral and ethical action. In the moment, groupthink/mob mentality/group mentality led to conformity which is exactly what happened, and is an extreme form of pressure. Regardless of the action/inaction in the moment, integrity was challenged and defeated. One of the only ways this will change is something that will probably not happen due to conformism within the system. You lived how hard it was... your integrity was challenged, and ultimately inaction was the choice that was made resulting in net zero integrity.
As everything in hindsight reveals the truth, the inaction feeds conformity. If it's never challenged, then it evolves into a "norm."
Yeah this is exactly why ACAB is wrong even though all the points are right. The good points deserve a name that isn't stupid.
Wrong. Acab. All cops are bastards. As a person who participated in the system, I was bastardized for it. I was pressured as a "good man" to stand by and listen to a man be beaten. I was put back under the authority of the man I had accused of a crime that if convicted would lead to his life most likely ending in the same facility he "guarded". I was buried by every single other person in that room who refused to talk.
I was bastardized. All cops are. You either quit or you embrace it. And even in quitting, you still carry the guilt that you could of stopped it. At least escalated it by starting a 2nd fight. But was I going to swing on a man wearing the same uniform as me? No. My cowardice was exploited and I was bastardized alongside them.
ACAB isn't wrong. I stand by those words and their meaning. I spit in the direction of anyone who not only doesn't understand but goes out of their way to defend "the good ones" there ain't no good ones. The only one who's "good" is the one who quits and that only happens after he failed himself first.
It's okay. He wasn't a CEO so all good. Not like inmates deserve human rights or anything. /s
Damn, did the inmate not realize they should have called the CEO crisis line?
(Fuck Hochul)
So what about the warden and his staff. It's not like this culture isn't being condoned or even encouraged at the top level. They are accessories to this and probably many other murders.
I am a former correctional officer of the texas department of justice and this exact same situation happened and I too stood by and listened as it happened. I helped escort the man from his cell to medical. I stood by listening to the other guard talk about how much of his ass he would be kicking. I stood there as they took him into a cameraless backroom and listened as they beat that man handcuffed. I stood to stop it, thoughts of pulling my pepper spray and going in there and just letting loose. A sergeant told me to sit back down and I did. I was not physically overpowered. I sat back down, and I listened. The only difference in this is that my victim didn't die. I reported it afterwards. I reported it to the warden, to the state, to the media. Warden tried to reassign me back under the command of the person I accused in the most dangerous part of the prison. The state sent an investigator but nobody talked but me, not even my victim. I sent everything I had to local media and prison rights groups and heard NOTHING back. No one cared. It happened all the time, it was sanctioned, it happens in every prison in this country. The only difference is that this man died and the countless others did not.
I look at those 14 names and I cannot help but feel I deserve to be on it. I was never punished for my cowardice. I quit, I say ACAB, I tell my story but I was not and never will be punished for my inaction because no one cares about an inmate being beaten by a guard unless he fucking dies.
They fired and charged everyone involved and washed their hands of it. 13 guards and 1 nurse is the count I saw last. I totally agree that almost everyone working in that prison is probably as bad or worse than these people, it's been widely known that the Marcy Prison is incredibly violent and abuses inmates, as well as having a strong history of racism among guards.
Direct link to the videos and names of everyone involved in this lynching:
Only in America.
Which today means the exact opposite of what it did 40 years ago here (Denmark).
These assholes deserve death penalty more than most that actually get it.I firmly believe that those who wear a badge to uphold the law must be held to the highest letter of the law.
e.g. if "petty theft" carries a sentence of "up to 7 days in jail and/or up to a $1000 fine", then an officer charged with "petty theft" should always serve 7 days AND pay a $1000 fine. There should be no deliberation about leniency for those who wear a badge.
Wherein this turns heads and makes people say "well hey, that's not right..." we identify corners of the written law that should be amended. Not for them; because of them.
So yeah, if death is on the books for murder, have at. All 14. We'll talk about if it was fair when they're gone.
I think treating sentencing as 'black and white' for officers is maybe the only way to deal with the problem of corrupt cops. Not even sure it'd work.
Ideally, yes, but that would create other issues. If there is a hard line for it (like the death penalty for those 14) and no chance of a lighter sentence, juries may be disinclined to convict (and prosecutors to charge) on those charges knowing it is the only outcome.
Idk man I wasn't physically beat but the Finnish police denied me my prescription medication while holding me for days while I was psychotic. They even turned off the water in the isolation cell they placed me in. Until I reminded them it's actually a crime against humanity to not have water available to prisoners.
I drew more than 300 words in my own blood on the walls. I maybe have had several seizures, or none at all. I'm prone to them, but I couldn't tell as I'm not there when they happen.
So no... not "only in America". But because people think "only in America", no-one believes me in what happened. I have photos of the cell. They tried charging me with vandalising the cell — with my own blood — but when I asked for the tape from the cell, they suddenly got "very uncomfortable, I've never heard them that anxious" freely translated from what my lawyer told me. The charge vanished and they said they've lost the tape.
No-one ever got so much as a reminder of trying to behave better. No-one, excluding my therapist (who's not Finnish), actually believes me. Not even my own family. And I have the scars and photos and documents to prove what I'm saying.
I was literally tortured for three days. In Finland. By the authorities.
In a cell without even a mattress, very cool, light on constantly, never dark even during the night. No-one talked to me. I couldn't get anyone to say a single thing. When I demanded to know my rights one said "we've already told them to you" as they were dragging me into the isolation cell.
"Only in America" indeed.
Maybe it wasn't entirely fair to claim only in America, but it is very widespread in USA, and this case took it to the ultimate step where it became lethal.
no-one believes me in what happened.
I do, and unfortunately I've heard a very similar story here from Denmark, an emigrant who was held in detention (isolation) for 3 days, without seeing a judge, and then released.
I'm so sad these things happen, I don't know why people don't believe you, but I guess you have to have had close up experiences with life on the bottom of society.
You probably wouldn't have been treated like that, if they thought you could afford to throw lawyers after them afterwards. It's always the weak that get abused.
These people are in a position of tremendous power over other people, that power easily corrupts them to think they are entitled to abuse you if they don't like you.
What you experienced is hopefully extreme, my friend at least got water, but he too was withheld from medication, and his condition got clearly worse after the experience.
So I absolutely believe you 100%.
These institution needs to be monitored, this kind of abuse is unacceptable.I was literally tortured for three days. In Finland. By the authorities.
You absolutely were, and my guess is that you are not alone, this is something they do to break you, to make you "behave" as they want you to. To make you "respect" their authority.
I don't know you, but I know my friend, and I am pretty sure he is telling the truth, and your stories are extremely similar.
American prisons have been murdering people for decades, despite scandal after scandal, next to nothing has been done about it.
Yet they can move heaven and earth to go after murders of the rich.
So many Americans believe that the inmates deserve this treatment because they are inmates. There is no compassion for the incarcerated.
https://ag.ny.gov/osi/footage/robert-brooks
Link to all the body cams released by the NY State Attorney General
The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association issued a statement reading, "What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day... This incident has the potential to make our correctional facilities even more violent, hostile, and unpredictable than ever before."
You can take that and shove it up your ass. Fuck every one of these murderers.
I am a former correctional officer of the texas department of justice and this exact same situation happened and I too stood by and listened as it happened. I helped escort the man from his cell to medical. I stood by listening to the other guard talk about how much of his ass he would be kicking. I stood there as they took him into a cameraless backroom and listened as they beat that man handcuffed. I stood to stop it, thoughts of pulling my pepper spray and going in there and just letting loose. A sergeant told me to sit back down and I did. I was not physically overpowered. I sat back down, and I listened. The only difference in this is that my victim didn't die. I reported it afterwards. I reported it to the warden, to the state, to the media. Warden tried to reassign me back under the command of the person I accused in the most dangerous part of the prison. The state sent an investigator but nobody talked but me, not even my victim. I sent everything I had to local media and prison rights groups and heard NOTHING back. No one cared. It happened all the time, it was sanctioned, it happens in every prison in this country. The only difference is that this man died and the countless others did not.
I look at those 14 names and I cannot help but feel I deserve to be on it. I was never punished for my cowardice. I quit, I say ACAB, I tell my story but I was not and never will be punished for my inaction because no one cares about an inmate being beaten by a guard unless he fucking dies.
The US is such a backward ass country. The amount of backward ass things that happen on a regular basis in all parts of this society is just too long to list.
There's no monetary reason to oversee prisons and LEOs that work there. The goverment is paying a business, or funding a workplace, and any violations will just cost the goverment more money. Creating consequences for police will just cost the goverment more money. There's every reason to ignore this behavior and no reason to create controls and enforce regulations. There was a huge news story about juvenile prisons in TX where child prisoners were being raped a lot, and often. The general reaction to this news in TX was ''they are prisoners, they did the crime'' adults raping children is OK, as long as it's punishment and torture for felons who are also children. Just typing this out makes it all feel like some post apocalyptic fever dream...
Get a rifle and train. Your chance may come soon.
I am a former correctional officer of the texas department of justice and this exact same situation happened and I too stood by and listened as it happened. I helped escort the man from his cell to medical. I stood by listening to the other guard talk about how much of his ass he would be kicking. I stood there as they took him into a cameraless backroom and listened as they beat that man handcuffed. I stood to stop it, thoughts of pulling my pepper spray and going in there and just letting loose. A sergeant told me to sit back down and I did. I was not physically overpowered. I sat back down, and I listened. The only difference in this is that my victim didn't die. I reported it afterwards. I reported it to the warden, to the state, to the media. Warden tried to reassign me back under the command of the person I accused in the most dangerous part of the prison. The state sent an investigator but nobody talked but me, not even my victim. I sent everything I had to local media and prison rights groups and heard NOTHING back. No one cared. It happened all the time, it was sanctioned, it happens in every prison in this country. The only difference is that this man died and the countless others did not.
I look at those 14 names and I cannot help but feel I deserve to be on it. I was never punished for my cowardice. I quit, I say ACAB, I tell my story but I was not and never will be punished for my inaction because no one cares about an inmate being beaten by a guard unless he fucking dies.
We are advertisers extraordinaire.
Well, you would think that we would at least try to a fix or alleviate the insanities. But no, we just talk about it for a few days while acting all shocked and then continue down the same road because no one can agree on a fix. In-freakin-sane system.
This is horrifying. I don't get why this isn't plastered everywhere. It's worse than George Floyd.
"But he was no angel," will be the line...
We've given up.
I'm not ready to watch the video. Why do you say it's worse?
"Suspended" and "terminated" is a funny way of saying sentenced for murder.
Don't worry, hes not a capitalist just a flithy peasant. They will be rewarded with paid vacation for this.
How is this not terrorism?
and state-sponsored terrorism at that!
Terrorism is against the establishment, not with it.
This is just sparkling authoritarianism.
When a person or small group of people blow up a federal building, that's terrorism. When government agents kill people wontonly that's tyranny.
terminated or suspended
They are being charged with homicide, right?
Right???
Disgusting murderers
I am a serial killer, I should become a police officer and get suspended for murdering a whole bunch of people
/S, of course
