New York's attorney general is forming a grand jury for the death of Daniel Prude, who suffocated after police put him in a 'spit hood'
- New York's attorney general, Letitia James, announcd Saturday she would form a grand jury for the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in March, days after Rochester police placed him in a "spit hood" and held him down.
- The seven Rochester police officers involved in Prude's death were suspended earlier this week, the mayor announced.
- The county's medical examiner ruled in an autopsy that Prude's death was a homicide caused by "complications of asphyxia" while physically restrained.
- A police union has defended the officers involved in the encounter, saying they were strictly following department training and protocols, including using the mesh hood.
New York's attorney general on Saturday moved to form a grand jury to investigate the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died after being hooded and held down by Rochester police in March.
"The Prude family and the Rochester community have been through great pain and anguish," Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement about Prude's death, which has sparked nightly protests and calls for reform. She said the grand jury would be part of an "exhaustive investigation."
James' office has been investigating Prude's death since April.
On Tuesday, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced that the seven police officers involved in Prude's death would be suspended.
Prude's death after his brother called for help for his erratic behavior in March has roiled New York's third-largest city since video of the encounter was made public earlier this week, with protesters demanding more accountability for how it happened and legislation to change how authorities respond to mental health emergencies.
"This is just the beginning," Ashley Gantt, a protest organizer, said by email after James' announcement. "We will not be stopped in our quest for truth and justice. It is always necessary to do what's right."
Another protest was planned for Saturday on the street where Prude was detained.
Advocates for legislation say Prude's death and the actions of seven Rochester police officers — including one who covered the Black man's head with a "spit hood" during the March encounter — demonstrate how police are ill-equipped to deal with people suffering mental problems.
Having police respond can be a "recipe for disaster," The National Alliance on Mental Illness said in a statement Friday.
Prude's death "is yet another harrowing tragedy, but a story not unfamiliar to us," the advocacy group said. "People in crisis deserve help, not handcuffs."
Stanley Martin, an organizer of Free the People Rochester, told reporters: "We do not need violent workers with guns to respond to mental health crises."
Friday night's protest resulted in 11 arrests, police said. As they had the night before, officers doused activists at police headquarters with a chemical spray to drive them from barricades around the building.
As the night wore on, demonstrators were pushed further back, as police fired what appeared to be pepper balls. Fireworks were shot off and a bus stop was set on fire.
Prude's family has said he appeared to be spiraling into crisis in the hours before police handcuffed him on a street and pinned the naked man face down. In the video, police are also seen covering his head with the white "spit hood," designed to protect police from bodily fluids.
"You're trying to kill me!" the 41-year-old man is heard saying. He died days later in what the medical examiner ruled was a homicide.
A police union has defended the officers involved in the encounter, saying they were strictly following department training and protocols, including using the mesh hood.
A medical examiner ruled in an autopsy report that Prude's death a homicide caused by "complications of asphyxia" while physically restrained.