US: Police is not going to face costs in Daniel Prude’s dying | Courts Information

The grand jury votes not to indict police officers involved in the arrest and suffocation of a 41-year-old man in Rochester, New York.

The law enforcement officers who were involved in the arrest and death of an unarmed black man by suffocation in New York state last year will not be prosecuted, the attorney general said on Tuesday.

A grand jury voted not to charge any officer involved in the death of 41-year-old Daniel Prude, who died after police pulled a spit hood over his head and detained him during an arrest in Rochester, the state’s third largest city. March.

The arrest of Prude, captured on police cameras, sparked outrage in the United States. The past year saw widespread protests calling for racial justice and an end to systemic police violence against blacks.

“Daniel Prude was in a mental crisis and he needed compassion, care and help from trained professionals. Tragically, he didn’t get any of it, ”New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Tuesday.

“We concluded that there was enough evidence of Mr Prude’s death to warrant bringing the case to a grand jury, and we have presented the most comprehensive case,” said James.

“While I know the Prude family, the Rochester parish, and communities across the country are right to be devastated and disappointed, we must respect that choice.”

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren also said the grand jury’s decision was “difficult for many of us to understand,” but urged the community to “work towards changing policies and procedures to correct inequalities in the system.” “according to a statement from the local media.

Seven police officers who were involved in Prude’s arrest were suspended in September.

Police camera footage showing Prude lying naked, handcuffed and surrounded by police officers on the floor, was released after his family received it through a freedom of information request.

His family said the father of five was struggling with mental health problems when the family called the police for help after he ran into the street and undressed.

Demonstrations took place in Rochester in September to seek justice for Daniel Prude [File: Maranie R Staab/AFP]The video showed officers arriving at the scene with a hood over their head and telling him to “stop spitting”. Prude’s face was pressed into the ground with the hood on.

His voice was muffled and minutes later he was silent. Prude died seven days later, on March 30, after being released from life support.

A medical examiner concluded that Prude’s death was a murder caused by “complications of asphyxiation with physical restraint”.

The release of the video images raised questions about a possible cover-up and made Rochester a focus in a summer of protests against racial injustice and policing in the United States, first sparked by George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

Warren, the mayor, sacked Police Chief La’Ron Singletary and suspended two city officials over the incident.

However, local civil rights groups had demanded that the officers involved be dismissed and prosecuted. In September, they held several consecutive nights of protest to demand justice and accountability for Prude’s death.

The Rochester Police Department has announced that it will be conducting an internal and criminal investigation.

Warren said the city’s new police chief is expected to issue orders and procedures to implement police reforms soon.

“The current lethal violence laws have created a system that has utterly and bitterly failed Mr. Prude and so many others before him,” said James, the attorney general. “Serious reforms are needed, not just in the Rochester Police Department, but in our entire criminal justice system.”

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