Justice For Robert Brooks: Attorney General Recuses Itself, Special Prosecutor To Investigate Case
Source: ag.ny.gov / ag.ny.gov
New York State Attorney General Letitia James and her office have recused themselves from the Robert Brooks investigation, citing a conflict of interest.
The attorney general usually investigates the deaths of people who die in police custody but admitted that lawyers in her office were already representing four of the officers under investigation, according to CBS News. Some of the guards have also been involved in previous cases of brutality lawsuits filed by other prisoners.
“Even the possibility or mere appearance of a conflict could tie up a potential prosecution in lengthy legal challenges or get a potential prosecution outright dismissed,” James said in a video message. “And I will not allow justice to be delayed or denied because of a conflict.”
As previously reported by NewsOne, Robert Brooks, an inmate at a central New York state correctional facility, died after he was savagely beaten by correctional officers while restrained.
According to several reports, including local outlet Utica Observer-Dispatch, Robert Brooks, 43, had been jailed since 2017 and was serving a 12-year sentence at the Mohawk Correctional Facility for stabbing a woman multiple times. He took a plea deal to have a second-degree murder charge dropped.
The video footage of Robert Brooks being fatally beaten was made public on Friday by the New York Attorney General’s Office, nearly three weeks after the incident at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on Dec. 10.
The New York Times reported that the 12 people involved are “facing termination.” But as of Friday, Sgts. Michael Mashaw and Glenn Trombly, Officers Matthew Galliher, Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Robert Kessler, Michael Fisher, Christopher Walrath, Michael Along, Shea Schoff, and David Walters, along with nurse Kyle Dashnaw have remained not only gainfully employed but also free of any criminal charges for their alleged actions.
All of the prison officers involved are white men.
After recusing, James appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the death of Robert Brooks. James chose the Republican district attorney in Onondaga County, William Fitzpatrick, to investigate the case.
Community leaders condemned the prison officers and called for there to be justice for Brooks’ death.
The Rev. Al Sharpton compared the video footage of Brooks to the police killings of George Floyd and Tyre Nichols.
“These officers clearly thought they were within their right to hit Brooks in the stomach with the heel of a boot, level punches at his face or torso, and throw him around like a ragdoll—all with his hands behind his back,” Sharpton said in a statement sent to NewsOne. “They were wrong. It is disturbing that some of them had the sense to smile and smirk while a human being was forced against a wall by three officers just a few feet away. Their actions in this tape not only justify their firing but should merit appropriate criminal charges.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she was “outraged and horrified” and called Brooks’ death “senseless.”
Hochul also said she “ordered a full investigation” and ordered the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision “to begin the termination process.”
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