Sharpton On Killing Of Black Man By New York Corrections Officers: “Footage Of Robert Brooks’ Death Is…Horrifying”

By National Action Network Photos: Body-Cam\Office of New York Attorney General Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), issued the following statement in wake of footage released this afternoon that shows correction officers fatally beating inmate Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility in Utica, New York. Brooks, 43, had been serving a 12-year sentence since 2017 at the facility when he was beaten by several officers on December 9th. He died a day later of what the local medical examiner called “asphyxia due to compression of the neck.” Governor Hochul subsequently ordered the firing of 14 officers at the facility, and Brooks’ death is now being investigated by four agencies including the New York Attorney General’s Office, which released the footage on Friday.& “The footage of Robert Brooks’ death is as horrifying as what we saw when George Floyd, Tyre Nichols, and countless other Black men and women have been killed by law enforcement. 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...