Date | March 23, 2020 (incident) March 30, 2020 (Prude declared dead) |
---|---|
Time | 3:16 – 3:27 a.m. EDT |
Location | Rochester, New York, U.S. |
Cause | Complications of asphyxia |
Filmed by | Officer Mark Vaughn's body cam |
Participants | Daniel Prude (deceased) Rochester Police Department officers |
Outcome | Prude declared brain dead, taken off life support. |
On March 23, 2020, Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old African-American man, died after being physically restrained by Rochester, New York police officers. Prude had been suffering from a mental health episode after ingesting PCP and left his brother's house in a disturbed and naked state. His brother called the police, which then led to the encounter with law enforcement in the street outside of his brother's house. [1] The officers put a spit hood over his head after he began spitting. They restrained him face-down on the street for two minutes and fifteen seconds, and he stopped breathing. Prude received CPR on the scene and later died of complications from asphyxia after being taken off life support.
The autopsy report ruled Prude's death a homicide and also included the contributing factors to his death as "excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP". The death first received attention in September 2020 when the police body camera video and written reports were released along with the autopsy report. Following the report's release, protesters demonstrated outside the Rochester police headquarters and many considered the death to be related to Prude's race. The demonstrations were connected to the Black Lives Matter movement and the string of racial justice events of 2020.
On February 23, 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the empaneled grand jury declined to charge the seven officers involved in Prude's death. [2] The same day, the US Attorney's office for the Western District of New York announced they will review the AG report and other evidence, and rule whether a federal response is warranted.
Daniel T. Prude (September 20, 1978 –March 30, 2020) [3] arrived in Rochester, New York, from Chicago on March 22, 2020, to visit his older brother, Joe Prude. [4] Daniel acted erratically upon his arrival, jumping headfirst down a flight of stairs. His brother dialed emergency services for help. Daniel received a mental health evaluation at Strong Memorial Hospital and was released that night. Within several hours, Daniel resumed his erratic behavior and fled his brother's house around 3 a.m. [5] His brother called emergency services again for assistance. Prude shed his long underwear, tank top, and socks while on the street. A passerby recorded a Facebook Live video of Prude after he begged someone to call emergency services, but Prude ran away when the person called. [6]
At 3:16 a.m., [6] multiple officers and two emergency medical technicians arrived at Prude's location in southwest Rochester, where he was walking naked and bleeding. [7] One officer exited his car and approached Prude, pointing a taser at him while asking him six times to get on the ground. Prude complied and was then asked by the officer to put his hands behind his back, to which he also complied. During the arrest, he said, "Yes, sir" several times to the officer. While handcuffed and on the ground, Prude repeatedly said, "In Jesus Christ I pray, amen", among various other comments. [8]
At around 3:19 a.m., Prude became agitated, spitting at officers, [9] and yelling, "Give me that gun", until one officer placed a spit hood over Prude's head. [10] Prude demanded that they remove it. [11] One minute later, Prude unsuccessfully attempted to stand up before being repeatedly pushed over by officers, [9] who forcibly held him down for approximately two minutes and 15 seconds. [12] Officer Mark Vaughn used his body weight and both hands to press the side of Prude's head to the pavement. Vaughn's report called this a "hypoglossal nerve technique" which, according to USA Today , "involves jamming fingers into a nerve below the jaw to cause pain and persuade a subject to comply". Officer Troy Taladay applied his knee to Prude's back. Another officer held Prude's legs. At the start of the hold, Prude said, "You're trying to kill me." [6] The officers noticed liquid coming from Prude's mouth as he stopped speaking and moving. [11] As Vaughn released his hold, he said "You good now?" Prude did not respond. Vaughn then pushed on his head with one hand for 45 seconds while the attending officers chatted. [6] Three minutes and ten seconds after the restraint began, one police officer remarked that he had been vomiting during the restraint and his chest compressions appeared to have stopped. [13] The Associated Press reported that police leaders pressed Rochester to keep the video of Prude's death secret, fearing a "violent blowback" if the video came out during the nationwide George Floyd protests. [14]
An emergency medical technician asked the officers to turn Prude on his back. Acknowledging that Prude was unresponsive, he instructed an officer to apply CPR, who did so. At 3:27 a.m., Prude was placed into an ambulance. [8] While in transport to Strong Memorial Hospital, his heartbeat resumed, but he remained incapacitated from lack of oxygen and was later declared brain dead. He was taken off life support a week after the arrest, on March 30. [6]
The medical examiner's autopsy report ruled Prude's death a homicide as a result of "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint". [15] [16] The report found contributing factors included "excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP". [11] The report did not mention prior mental health issues or explain the link between the toxicology test and his behavior. Prude's sister claimed Prude smoked a PCP-laced joint at a party prior to his erratic behavior. She sent him to visit their brother when he began acting erratically. [6]
Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, said Prude's death was being investigated. [17] Governor Andrew Cuomo said on September 2, 2020, that he had originally asked James to investigate the case in July, and that it had been under investigation "for months" prior to September. Rochester police paused its investigation when the state took up the case in April, as the Attorney General's office investigates deaths of unarmed people in police custody rather than having them handled locally. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said that the city could not be involved in the case until the state investigation finished. [11]
On August 20, the family's lawyer, Elliot Dolby-Shields, [17] received 88 minutes of body camera recordings following an open records request. The video contains one brief gap but, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle , appears to show the 11-minute incident in full. The newspaper said that the video showed no physical resistance from Prude and no overtly hostile actions from the officers. [6] Shields said that the family "will sue everyone who is responsible for Daniel Prude's death" during a news conference on September 2. [18]
Prude's death originally gained notoriety following a press conference on September 2, 2020, which highlighted the body camera video evidence of his death. It was the first public mentioning of the incident. During the conference, Joe Prude, Daniel's brother, denounced his death as a "coldblooded murder", asking, "How many more brothers got to die for society to understand that this needs to stop?" [17]
During a later press conference, Rochester's chief of police claimed that the delay in releasing video evidence "was not a cover-up" and that he understood the frustration towards Prude's death. New York Attorney General Letitia James called it a "tragedy". The Mayor of Rochester, Lovely Warren, said during the same conference that she was "very disturbed" by the footage of his death, but added, "This is not something that's...in our control at this moment in time." Governor Andrew Cuomo similarly called the video "very disturbing". [17]
The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle likened the circumstances to that of George Floyd's murder, which happened two months after Prude's death, and led to national protests. [6]
The December 10, 2020, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contained an essay in its Points of View section by David A. Paul, M.D., entitled "The Death of Daniel Prude –Reflections of a Black Neurosurgeon". Dr. Paul, who also lived in Rochester, learned after Prude's death that they had been cousins. [19]
On September 2, 2020, in response to the video footage release and subsequent press conference, [20] protesters demonstrated outside the City Public Safety Building (PSB), the department headquarters. Several protesters were arrested and released with appearance summons for entering the headquarters, several attempting to attend a press conference held by the Mayor. [11]
Rochester police made another round of arrests during protests the following day that, at times, turned violent. Protesters gathered and chanted near the Public Safety Building, and tensions began rising around 10:30 p.m. with police deploying pepper spray and pepper balls multiple times in a 10-minute span. [21] Some protesters threw rocks and bottles, with some removing and pushing back a protective fence set up outside of the building. Police moved crowds back away from the building, and later south on Exchange Boulevard, into the Corn Hill neighborhood.[ citation needed ]
Separately, in New York City, a car plowed through a crowd of protesters in Times Square who were also demonstrating against police brutality. [22]
On September 4, 2020, protests began peacefully but ended with authorities dispersing crowds with tear gas and pepper balls following incidents of vandalism and violence, according to officials. Protesters started at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Downtown Rochester and arrived to a blockade set up across the Court Street Bridge by police, one block from the Safety Building. Bottles and fireworks were launched at police by protesters. Police slowly pushed the crowd several blocks down Court Street. Rochester police arrested 11 people during the outbreaks of violence, the department said. According to police, three officers were hurt and were hospitalized but later released. [23]
On September 5, 2020, the fourth night of protests over the death of Prude was the largest yet, and again ended with pepper balls, tear gas and fireworks. Protesters marched from Jefferson Ave to City Hall, and next to Exchange Blvd at Broad Street, to a police roadblock outside of the Blue Cross Arena, north of the Safety Building. Six minutes after arriving, after some threw water bottles, police began dispensing crowds with tear gas, pepper spray, flash bangs and an LRAD. At least one protester launched multiple fireworks at officers from then on that night.[ citation needed ]
Police continued pushing protesters north on Exchange Blvd—which continues north of W. Main Street as State Street—also dispersing a re-assembling crowd in front of City Hall. While most demonstrators left downtown quickly, several hundred remained on State Street for another hour or so. Several dozen stayed until about 1:30 am the next day, pushed 1⁄2 mile (800 m) north of the roadblock to outside of Kodak Tower, before officers in squad cars finally dispersed the remaining people. Two U-Haul trucks were set on fire in a parking lot nearby before firefighters extinguished them. [24]
Rochester police arrested nine people, including two on felony charges. Three officers were also treated at the hospital for injuries. No official account of injuries to protesters was offered.
On September 6, 2020, roughly 1,000 people came out to protest on the fifth day, which was the first peaceful night since protests started. Rochester police reported no arrests after demonstrators descended on the city's Public Safety Building, a day after nearby demonstrations resulted in numerous clashes between protesters and police. The police presence that night was noticeably subdued, with fewer visible officers outside of the building, and a relaxed perimeter more similar to that as on September 3. The march also used "elders", namely older, respected community members to stand between the police and protesters, to both prevent and reduce the odds of a clash that night. The demonstration came hours after Mayor Lovely Warren and the city's police chief La'Ron Singletary called for calm following tense protests the previous day. [25]
On September 7, 2020, six naked or partially naked demonstrators sat silently outside of the Public Safety Building that morning. All had their hands behind their backs and wore spit hoods, in a reference to Prude. [26] That night, 600–1000 people demonstrated on the sixth day of protests. Demonstrators started at Martin Luther King Jr. park and again marched to Rochester City Hall, followed by the Public Safety Building. The events were mostly peaceful, although a tense standoff between officers and protesters occurred. The police presence was initially relaxed, but changed after demonstrators became more agitated one hour after arriving at the Safety Building. Some threw bottles at police and started removing the first layer of barricades, after which an unlawful assembly was declared and dozens of officers moved in position to disperse crowds. [27] Police remained in the same position, not forcing crowds back or using any tear gas or pepper spray that night as had previously occurred. The last protesters left without incident around 1 am. [28]
On September 8, 2020, protesters demonstrated for the seventh straight day, which ended peacefully for a third consecutive night. [29] It came hours after Police Chief Singletary and his entire command staff (six other officials) either retired, announced intentions to retire or were demoted to their previously held positions. [30] Protesters started on Jefferson Avenue, walked and demonstrated at the Public Safety Building and later outside of City Hall. [29] Protesters also painted "Black Lives Matter" on Jefferson Ave, "Murderers" on Exchange Boulevard in front of the Safety Building, and "Resign" on Church Street facing City Hall. [31]
On September 9, 2020, two men who allegedly attacked police officers in Rochester during the protest on September 5 were arrested. The Justice Department announced criminal charges against two people for civil disorder during the demonstration four days before. [32]
Protesters again sat naked or partially naked in front of City Hall on September 10, 2020. More than a dozen people were wearing mesh hoods. [33]
The Rochester Police Department, also known as the RPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of the City of Rochester, New York, reporting to the city mayor. It currently has approximately 852 officers and support staff, a budget of approximately $90 million, and covers an area of 37 square miles (96 km2). The Rochester Police Department has been under a court-ordered federal consent decree from the United States Department of Justice since 1975 over its hiring practices. The decree was part of a 1975 settlement involving racial discrimination.
Starting in May 2020, protests following the murder of George Floyd were held in the city of Portland, Oregon, concurrent with protests in other cities in the United States and around the world. By July 2020, many of the protests, which had been held every day since May 28, drew more than 1,000 participants. Protests continued into August, September, and October 2020, often drawing hundreds.
Civil unrest over the murder of George Floyd began as local protests in Minneapolis–Saint Paul on May 26, 2020, the day after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Protests and civil disorder quickly spread to other locations in the U.S. state of Minnesota, the United States, and internationally. This list includes notable protests and events of civil disorder in Minnesota in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder.
In 2020, a series of protests took place in California related to the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while in police custody. On May 31, 2020, the California Department of Human Resources advised "all state departments with offices in downtown city areas" to close on June 1.
This is a list of protests in New York following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
George Floyd protests in New York City took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs, starting on May 28, 2020, in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful, while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence, including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue, especially in Manhattan. As a result, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7, the first curfew in the city since 1943.
This is a list of George Floyd protests in Alabama, United States. Protests occurred in fourteen various communities in the state.
This is a list of protests in Florida in response to the murder of George Floyd. On May 31, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis activated the Florida National Guard, and deployed 700 soldiers to assist law enforcement agencies across the state. Additionally, DeSantis instructed the Florida Highway Patrol to mobilize 1,300 troopers to assist in policing actions.
There were a series of George Floyd protests in Illinois. Demonstrations and protests were held in at least 30 communities around the state, with major demonstrations happening in Chicago. The vast majority of demonstrations were peaceful, though there were several instances of property damage or violence attributed to demonstrators or counter-protestors, the worst of which occurred in Aurora. In some cities, curfews were issued or orders released advising residents to avoid the areas in which protests were taking place.
This is a list of protests brought on by the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in Kentucky, United States. In 2020, there were protests throughout Kentucky in reaction to the shooting of Breonna Taylor and murder of George Floyd by police, as well as the shooting of David McAtee by the Kentucky Army National Guard. The demonstrations happened regularly in the largest cities in Kentucky, including Louisville and Lexington. Many of the smaller cities had protests on at least one day.
This is a list of protests that took place in Michigan in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.
This is a list of protests in the U.S. state of Texas related to the murder of George Floyd.
Local protests over the murder of George Floyd, sometimes called the Minneapolis riots or the Minneapolis uprising, began on May 26, 2020, and within a few days had inspired a global protest movement against police brutality and racial inequality. The initial events were a reaction to a video filmed the day before and circulated widely in the media of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes while Floyd struggled to breathe, begged for help, lost consciousness, and died. Public outrage over the content of the video gave way to widespread civil disorder in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and other cities in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area over the five-day period of May 26 to 30 after Floyd's murder.
The Breonna Taylor protests were a series of police brutality protests surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was a 26-year-old African-American woman who was fatally shot by plainclothes officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department on March 13, 2020. Police were initially given "no-knock" search warrant, but orders were changed to "knock and announce" before the raid. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was inside the apartment with her during the raid, said he thought the officers were intruders. He fired one shot, hitting officer Mattingly in the leg, and the officers fired 32 shots in return, killing Taylor.
New York City has been the site of many Black Lives Matter protests in response to incidents of police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The Black Lives Matter movement began as a hashtag after the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin, and became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans, Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Garner was killed in the Staten Island borough of New York City, leading to protests, demonstrations, and work towards changes in policing and the law. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020, the global response included extensive protests in New York City, and several subsequent changes to policy.
Protests and civil disorder occurred in reaction to the killing of Daunte Wright on April 11, 2021. Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by police officer Kimberly Potter during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, United States. Protests that first began in Brooklyn Center spread to other locations in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area and then to other cities in the United States. Several nights of civil disorder in Brooklyn Center and adjacent cities resulted in sporadic looting and damage to a few hundred properties, including four businesses that were set on fire.
Civil unrest began in the Uptown district of the U.S. city of Minneapolis on June 3, 2021, as a reaction to news reports that law enforcement officers had killed a wanted suspect during an arrest. The law enforcement killing occurred atop a parking ramp near West Lake Street and Girard Avenue. Police fired several rounds, killing the person at the scene. In an initial statement about the encounter, the U.S. Marshals Service alleged that a person failed to comply with arresting officers and produced a gun. Crowds gathered on West Lake Street near the parking ramp soon afterwards as few details were known about the incident or the deceased person, who was later identified as Winston Boogie Smith, a 32-year-old black American man.
In 2020 and 2021, several protests were held in the U.S. city of Minneapolis that coincided with judicial proceedings and the criminal trial of Derek Chauvin. As an officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, Chauvin was charged with the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man who died during an arrest incident on May 25, 2020. A bystander's video captured Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd struggled to breathe, lost consciousness, and died. Protesters opposed Chauvin's pre-trial release from jail on bail in October 2020. In the lead up to and during the criminal trial in early 2021, demonstrators sought conviction and maximum sentencing for Chauvin, and the enactment of police reform measures.