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A black man suffocated to death after a group of US police officers covered his head with a hood and then pressed his face against the pavement for two minutes.
Daniel Prude died in hospital on March 30 after his life support was removed after his encounter with police in Rochester, New York.
The officers were called in by his brother to help Mr. Prude, who was concerned for his well-being and mental health.
His death received no public attention until Wednesday, when his family held a press conference and released the police body camera video and written reports they obtained through a public records request.
The videos show Mr. Prude, who had taken off his clothes, obeying when the police asked him to drop to the ground and put his hands behind his back.
He is agitated and screaming as officers let him squirm as he sits on the sidewalk in handcuffs for a few moments.
Joe Prude, Daniel’s brother, said: “I made a phone call for my brother to seek help. Not to get my brother lynched.
“How did you see it and didn’t say directly: ‘The man is defenseless, naked on the ground.’ He’s already handcuffed. Come on’.
“How many more brothers have to die for society to understand that this must end?”
Officers are seen placing a hood over Mr. Prude’s head despite objections, and the victim says: “Trying to kill me.”
Officers bang Mr. Prude’s head against the street, then one officer holds his head against the pavement with both hands, saying “stop spitting” as Mr. Prude’s screams turn into groans and grunts.
The officers appear concerned when they notice water coming out of Mr. Prude’s mouth and paramedics are called.
A coroner concluded that Mr. Prude’s death was a homicide caused by “complications of suffocation in the context of physical restraint”.
The report lists excited delirium and acute phencyclidine poisoning, or PCP, as contributing factors.
Rochester police officers detained Prude for a mental health evaluation around 7 p.m. on March 22 for suicidal thoughts, about eight hours before the encounter that led to his death.
But his brother said he was only in the hospital for a few hours, according to reports.
Police responded again after Joe Prude called 911 around 3 a.m. to report that his brother had left their home.
One officer wrote that they put the hood on Prude because she was continuously spitting in the direction of officers and they were concerned about the coronavirus.
But activists demanded that the officers involved in Prude’s death be brought to trial on murder charges and removed from the department while the investigation progresses.
“The police have shown us time and again that they are not equipped to handle people with mental health problems. These officers are trained to kill and not to de-escalate. These officers are trained to ridicule, rather than support Mr. Daniel Prude, ”said Ashley Gantt of Free the People ROC.
Prude, known to his Chicago family by the nickname Rell, was the father of five and had been working in a warehouse for the past year, his aunt Letoria Moore said.
“He was a bright and loving person, family oriented, always there for us when we needed him,” he said.
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