Rochester, New York
Released bodycam footage of Daniel Prude’s arrest. Rochester Police Department
The death of Daniel Prude in March has reignited protests in Rochester, New York, with the public release of body cam footage and suspension of the the officers involved.
[RNY1]
How Daniel Prude suffocated as Rochester police restrained him by Steve Orr, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
The incident occurred in March — two months before George Floyd’s very similar death in Minneapolis touched off nationwide protests — yet it didn’t become public until now.
The curtain was lifted on the death of 41-year-old Daniel T. Prude at a late-morning news conference Wednesday at which Prude’s family and local activists called his death a murder and demanded that the officers involved be fired and charged in his homicide.
“We are in need of accountability for the wrongful death and murder of Daniel Prude. He was treated inhumanely and without dignity,” said Ashley Gantt, a community organizer from Free the People Roc and the New York Civil Liberties Union. “These officers killed someone and are still patrolling in our community.”
The case also brought calls from activists for changes to policing, including an end to the practice of having police officers respond to mental health calls. Clashes with police at the Public Safety Building Wednesday afternoon led to the arrests of nine people, including Gantt. All protesters arrested face misdemeanor charges and were issued appearance tickets.
Gantt said what happened to Prude was not an isolated event.
“The Rochester Police Department has shown time and again that they are not trained to deal with mental health crises,” Gantt said. “These officers are trained to kill and not to de-escalate. Daniel’s case is the epitome of what is wrong with this system and today we stand firmly seeking justice for Daniel and his family, and for all the victims who have been murdered and terrorized by the Rochester Police Department.”
Prude’s death on March 30 parallels numerous others locally and nationally in which people who are mentally or emotionally stressed, many of them people of color, have been killed when officers forcefully restrained them.
Rochester police body camera footage of police interaction with Daniel Prude on March 23, 2020. Prude became agitated after being hooded eventually a couple of officers held his face sideways against the street.
Monroe County Medical Examiner Dr. Nadia Granger ruled Prude’s death a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint,” according to the autopsy report.
[RNY2]
Crowds fill streets as unrest is reported at restaurants in Rochester, NY from the AP by Carolyn Thompson and Michael Hill
Crowds took to the streets Friday as people made calls for racial justice following police detaining Daniel Prude, who suffocated to death.
Prude, 41, who was Black, died when he was taken off life support March 30. That was seven days after officers who encountered him running naked through the street put a hood over his head to stop him from spitting, then held him down for about two minutes until he stopped breathing.
Agitators reportedly damaged restaurants when diners were there Friday night. Hundreds of other people gathered peacefully as they walked through the streets.
Later, people clashed with authorities. WHAM-TV reported that police declared a gathering an unlawful assembly and asked people to leave.
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Daniel Prude. Say his name. Rochester NY. Black lives matter. pic.twitter.com/7f86WxzfmA
— Marne Brady (@MarneBrady) September 5, 2020
— Gino Fanelli (@GinoFanelli) September 5, 2020
[RNY3]
7 officers in Rochester, New York, suspended in death of Daniel Prude by By Dennis Romero and David K. Li for NBC News
Seven police officers involved in the response to a call in which a Black man was put in a hood and later died have been suspended, the mayor of Rochester, New York, announced Thursday.
Mayor Lovely Warren said at a news conference that the officers involved in the response to the man, Daniel Prude, were suspended with pay “against the advice of counsel.”
“Mr. Daniel Prude was failed by our police department, our mental health care system, our society, and he was failed by me,” she said. “I must apologize to the Prude family and to all of our community.”
Warren indicated that she might be in for a fight with the local police union over the suspensions.
“I have never shied away from taking action and holding our police, or anyone, who fails in their duties to our community accountable,” she said in a statement. “I understand that the union may sue me for taking these officers off our streets. They should feel free to do so.”
The officers had stopped Prude, 41, who was nude at the time, after 3 a.m. on March 23, according to edited police body camera video obtained by his family and released to the media. Officers cuffed him, placed him on the wet street face down, put a spit hood on him, pushed his head into the asphalt and placed a knee on his back, the video appears to show.
Michael Mazzeo, president of the Rochester Police Locust Club, the union representing city officers, said Friday that his members had been told for months they did nothing wrong in their response to Prude.
“The message that was conveyed from the chief’s officer at that time was that there was no concerns with the actions or our members and that they had followed correct protocols per their training,” Mazzeo told reporters.
“To me, It looks like they were watching the training in front of them and following it step-by-step, what that training says to do,” Mazzeo said of footage that’s been made public.
He also said that one of the officers who has been suspended wasn’t at the scene where Prude was handcuffed and had a spit hood put on him.
A Rochester Police Department spokeswoman on Friday declined comment on Mazzeo’s assertion that the officers had been credited with following proper protocol. She said she did not immediately know if Mazzeo was correct in his belief that one of the suspended officers wasn’t at the scene.
[RNY4]
Spectrum Local News has a pretty detailed rundown of Friday nights events, including many videos at the link:
Crowds gathered early in the night, and by 11 p.m. Hundreds of protesters reached the Court Street Bridge where they were met with police in riot gear.
It was a back and forth moment. At one point, police said over a loud speaker “this is now an unlawful protest, please disperse.”
Most of the protesters did disperse and head back towards MLK Junior Park, while some continued to clash with police.
RPD says some members of the crowd began throwing rocks, bottles, and other forms of debris. Police used pepper balls and spray to break up the part of the crowd back towards South Avenue.
This crowd eventually began to break up.
About an hour later at midnight, Rochester police and another large crowd of protesters clashed again at the intersection of Court Street and South Clinton.
Spectrum News crews at this scene saw fireworks being set off in the street.
At least one protester threw a firework at the police barricade in front of them.
Tear gas was deployed by the RPD to attempt to disperse the crowds. Police say that the only use of tear gas during the night.
Additionally, throughout the night Spectrum News crews saw multiple fires being set downtown, ranging from small fires set in garbage cans to a fire in a bus terminal on Court Street.
Rochester police say 11 arrests were made during last night’s riots. The charges range from rioting, unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct.
Of the 11 arrests, seven were issued appearance tickets and four were remanded to the Monroe County Jail.
RPD says three officers were injured as a result of the projectiles thrown at them. All three officers required hospitalization and were later released.
However, one protester said Rochester police escalated the situation.
“I was slightly disappointed but I guess not surprised by it,” said Kaylee Leone of Webster regarding the escalation of the protest. “Yeah it’s scar. At least I thought they’d say it a few times, maybe say you have a few minutes or set a specific time on it, but no it was here’s the command 3 seconds and here we go,”
Rochester police also commented on its use of tear gas on the gathering. The department says the gas, along with pepper balls and pepper spray, were used in order “prevent serious physical injury to both officers and spectators.”
More footage from last night:
Genies have gone back into bottles before, of course. But they’re not inclined to go back into bottles.Report
I just don’t get this. There’s no honor in alienating people to the point they turn against you.Report
I’ve been waiting for the pivot to the platform of reform… but honestly, starting to think it isn’t about reform, not really, but about choosing sides. There’s no reform coming.Report
“it isn’t about reform”…
What is the “it” here? The protests?
The movement for police reform?
And when you say “there is no reform coming” who are the active agents in that sentence?
Who are these people who you expect to create reform?Report
Whom do you expect to enlist as agents to create reform?Report
Speaking for Marchmaine here:
What is the “it” here? The protests?
The movement for police reform?
The rioters.
And when you say “there is no reform coming” who are the active agents in that sentence?
The rioters.
Who are these people who you expect to create reform?
The rioters.
See how easy that was?Report
Forgive me if I am reading too much into the comments, but whenever I see comments along the lines of how the protesters are doing it wrong, and alienating supporters I think of the MLK’s frustration with white liberals, and how white support for even the most basic of civil liberty was always fragile and highly conditional, and subject to revocation at the slightest breeze of discomfort.
An intemperate rant, an over the top bit of rhetoric, an angry outburst and suddenly white people flee for the exits and [sadly] and [regretfully] decide that they must now side with the government and crush the protests.
Because for us people in the dominant majority, support for the basic humanity of minority people IS optional, a thing we do if the whim strikes us, if we are feeling generous and broadminded, and subject to our bespoke stipulations and conditions.Report
but whenever I see comments along the lines of how the protesters are doing it wrong
The *rioters*.
The rioters are doing it wrong.Report
And so therefore I must [sadly] and [regretfully] support the Chinese Communist Party and its efforts to bring order to Hong Kong.Report
What did the Hong Kong protesters not do? Loot and burn businesses and threaten ordinary people.Report
From what I understand, there is no reason to believe that the Hong Kong rioters did not have exactly as much property crime as we had in the US.
It just went unreported.Report
Support for defunding the police is 20% among blacks. They ran for the exits, too. Most people who aren’t throwing chairs at people eating in a restaurant are running for the exits.Report
I was having trouble picking you out of the crowd with such low resolution in the video. What color mask were you wearing in this “peaceful” protest, Chip? Or were you filming?Report
“Every time a riot develops, it helps George Wallace.”
–MLK
You are a fool.Report
I’m reluctant to criticize BLM as a movement and organization because I’m not connected with it and really know very little about it’s workings, but I am wondering about their essentially leader-less approach as I understand it. It seems like a voice needs to emerge to help organize and direct the immense energy behind the protests.
So while fully supporting the broad goals of BLM, I do share your wonderings about when/where change actually comes from.
I do believe they and other groups have put real work into GOTV efforts which could potentially effect change but we’ll see on that.Report
I agree that the leaderless model doesn’t accomplish much, compared to the highly organized and effective civil rights movement.
Having said that, I think we should ask ourselves the same question.
I mentioned before how the shopkeeper class- the Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, real estate groups and so forth- are the primary organizers of local politics.
They have tremendous power in selecting the city councilpersons, the Police Commission, and mayor. They host the fundraising parties, they throw their support and dollars behind this candidate or that and have a lot of control over how policing is done in nearly every city.
Will the shopkeeper class make police reform a priority? Support candidates who promise to reform? Or will they do exactly as they have done for decades, support “get tough” candidates who promise to sweep the streets of undesirables so long as nobody care how it is done?
I mentioned above how many people feel like this is something that doesn’t affect them, that police reform is an optional, charitable endeavor that they can support or not depending on a whim.
But the protests and riots serve an important point; “No Justice No Peace” means exactly that. Unless the police are reformed, the entire economy can be brought to its knees.Report
Seems to me as though better paths exist in enlisting the support of all that petty bourgeoisie scum than trashing businesses and threatening random people at dinner. Which is the point I was making that started this thread. The only message being sent is that people who do this are a bunch of assholes.Report
The point I was trying to make was that the goal of police reform is NOT an optional alliance to make the lives of black people better.
It is to make the lives of bourgeoisie better, to prevent the endless cycle of killing/ riot/ suppression which destroys the economic livelihood of the property owning class.
If this cycle doesn’t end soon, hundreds of billions of dollars of equity will be destroyed.Report
In a democracy every political movement towards policy change is an optional alliance. That’s how our system works.
Any movement that can’t succeed within that constraint is not only destined to fail but deserves to. If I didn’t know better I’d think there’s a faction way more obsessed with being good than doing good. They’re right there with the reactionaries pushing us towards that cycle, whether they know it or not.Report
Yes you’re right, but in this case “failure” means the impoverishment of the shopkeeper class.
Meaning that police reform is an imperative need for them whether they recognize it or not.Report
Nonsense. It means the triumph of the status quo and the decision to do business elsewhere.Report
All those Republican governors are loving all the new businesses that are abandoning blue cities. 🙂
Yesterday South Dakota’s governor (who is ridiculously pretty) invited the San Francisco salon owner to come set up shop in South Dakota. 🙂Report
Assuming she can meet the licensing requirements:
Report
*snort*
It only takes 250 hours to get a commercial pilot’s license, and 1,500 hours to become a commercial airline pilot flying a Boeing or Airbus full of passengers all over the world.Report
Okay, I probably deserve that. I wanted something other than the obvious “the largest city in SD isn’t even a good-sized suburb in California.” The SD governor is offering the freedom to run your salon without masks. In exchange, you have to give up many terrific things that come from living in a thriving major metro area.Report
That sounds like wishful thinking. More like urban cores will be abandoned again, much to the detriment of everyone. The difference is that this time people might never come back. If covid has established anything it’s that downtown office space is obsolete, at least on anything remotely like the scale it’s existed until now.
No one is moving to fly over country from the coasts over this but a lot of people may re-establish in the suburbs, especially if that’s where white collar workers and their disposable dollars are.Report
And then what happens?Report
Exactly what the police and their apologists want. Nothing.Report
Well, OK, if the riots result in “nothing” happening, then why should we be concerned about them?Report
….because we think police reform is important?Report
Important for what reason?
I mean, is police reform an urgent, imperative concern of us middle class white people, something which in which we have a vital vested interest?
Or is it some kind of charity, something we do for our less fortunate brethren?
This is a critical distinction, I think.Report
My opinion is that it is an urgent issue for everyone and that we all have skin in it, absent maybe true 1%ers. Blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately on the receiving end of the abuse and incompetence, but it can and does happen to everyone. I personally know white middle class people who have had the wrong door SWAT raid experience. My wife has had a gun pulled on her during a traffic stop. One nervous finger and it’s all over. It’s sheer luck no one was hurt.
But I’m a liberal so I can approach these issues in an open minded, problem solving way. I don’t have to force it into all these crazy race theories that seem to animate progressive activists.Report
That’s very true but I’m thinking more like, what are the consequences of having the police become de facto occupying armies in our communities?
Alienated and hostile to the people they ostensibly protect, and the people fearful and distrustful of them.
I think vast swaths of America could easily become like Gaza or Northern Ireland or South Africa or any other troubled society where the people are ruled by a hated occupier, where both the occupied and occupier live in perpetual fear of the other.Report
We call those areas “Democrat run cities.” Everybody else is just taking a pass on the post-apocalyptic nightmare of mutant cannibal gangs being stalked by militia warlords.Report
That’s certainly a possible outcome, and I don’t think it would be good for anyone.Report
In the West, the California Diaspora has been a thing for more than 30 years (I first heard the specific term from a University of Colorado historian in the late 1980s). Lots of Californians and Seattleites and Portlanders move to Front Range Colorado.
When I used to play with interstate migration data, one of the obvious things about the West was that people moved around between the major metro areas in all sorts of directions, including inland. Where people don’t move is flyover ruralia.
Urban core collapse was almost exclusively an east of the Mississippi thing, and particularly pronounced in the extended Rust Belt. In other parts of the country the more common pattern was that urban growth slowed, or declined somewhat, then came roaring back. To pick two disparate examples, in censuses from 1860, LA’s population has never declined and Omaha’s declined once.
I often assert here that one of the problems the Democratic party faces is in its two regional strongholds — the West and the NE urban corridor — “urban problems” means two very different things.Report
Interesting. I can certainly see how that would result in people talking passed each other on (what they think is) the same issue, depending on what part of the country they’re from.Report
Shorter Chip: “Look, the rioters are telling the shopkeepers that it’d be a REAL SHAME if something bad happened to their business, and I’m perfectly fine with that.”Report
Are you thinking this will somehow not happen if we are not OK with it?
Even the “solutions” advocated by the “get tough on crime” crowd, will produce exactly that result, the impoverishment and immiseration of millions of people.
So yeah, it is a real shame if this happened.
Too bad a republican democracy can’t seem to figure out a way to solve their political problems.Report
Are you thinking this will somehow not happen if we are not OK with it?
I’m as certain as it’s possible to be about political stuff (so, like 99.99%) that the threat (and reality!) of having their businesses destroyed by rioters will not make business owners support police reform.Report
Same question as to InMD above.
Then what happens? What happens if we can’t get the police under control?
Game it out for me.Report
Chip, I’m not the one who’s argued that extorting business owners will lead to *greater* support for police reform. You have.
So one way the to game this out is that rioting works against police reform. The more rioting, the less likely reform is.Report
I’m not arguing that it will or won’t lead to this or that.
I have no idea how people will respond.
I’m arguing that regardless of how one feels about the protests or riots, police reform is in everyone’s best interest whether they realize it or not.
My fear is what happens if people choose not to gain control over the police.Report
My fear is what happens if people choose not to gain control over the police.
this is amusing to me on so many levels. *Suddenly* – SUDDENLY! – (upper middle class) liberals’ primary issue is reining in the cops.Report
#BLMB
Black Lives Matter. But,Report
This happened in March.
The officers were suspended in September.
You want people to stop the protests and the destruction that often accompanies the protest? You not only need to stop killing Black folk, you need to stop doing nothing about it until after people protest.Report
Is killing white folk still cool? They do that about twice as much.Report
Yea, they should stop that, too.
But that isn”t relevant to my point here.Report
There’s some very simple stuff these departments could do to defuse the situations. I can’t tell if they still don’t get it or if continuing the business as usual, sham processes are a way of intentionally digging in.Report
My suburban city of 120K recently added the 3rd and 4th mental-health clinicians to the PD. Each of the clinicians has a city-provided vehicle with lights and is dispatched along with the regular officers for domestic disputes or events that sound like there’s some mental health issue. Everyone, including the regular officers, seems to be happy with the results. Arrests are down relative to other outcomes. With tongue only partially in cheek, the whole thing can probably be sold to the regular officers just on the basis of paperwork: if the mental health person handles it, it’s their paperwork.Report
That sounds like a great change.
But I increasingly think we are looking too closely at just the police, which is probably the hardest part of this to change from a policy standpoint.
We need the DAs and others to get their shit together. Change may happen there faster since some of those folks can be voted out or those who appoint them to be voted out. If the DA came after these guys sooner and with greater success, culture might change for no reason other than fear of consequences.Report
The challenge I think many DAs find is that the state of the law as it is now makes it really hard to convict. Remember they have power to prosecute, but not legislate, and not change precedents in the case law.
Which isn’t to say that isn’t part of the equation, but that the faster way to get changes is legislation.Report
Hell, just simply convincing police leadership (& political leadership) that stats for tickets and arrests are not useful metrics regarding the effectiveness of the police force.Report
I suspect many of them consider the right to assault and kill whoever they wish an essential condition of their employment.Report
I don’t think that’s the case either. More it’s that they’ve been told for a long time to do their jobs a certain way, have been given impunity to do it that way, and now can’t conceive of doing it any other way. The current narrative of cops as complete sociopaths misses the mark. Better to think of them as city bureaucrats with weapons sent out to cure deep seated social ills and given all of the wrong tools to do it.Report
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Obviously there are the handful of sociopaths who sneak in, but in general it’s not too different from other bureaucracies, except with guns and a.monopoly on force.Report
This incident just illustrates that covering a person’s nose and mouth with a piece of cloth is nothing but murder.Report
Wow, not even an ellipsis.
“complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint”
“complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint due to excited delirium due to acute phencyclidine intoxication.”
One of those is propaganda. Fake news!Report