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NEW YORK: The chief of police for the US city of Rochester resigned on Tuesday (September 8), after days of protesting the death of a black man who had been hooded and forced face down by police on a highway.
Daniel Prude’s arrest took place in March, but his family and activists made his death public last Wednesday, after receiving body camera images through an open records request.
When officers arrived, Prude, 41, who was suffering from a psychotic episode at the time, was unarmed and naked on the road, according to the video.
Prude, who initially complied with the rules, was ordered by the police to drop to the ground, but after being handcuffed he became increasingly agitated.
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Then officers put a “spitting hood on him” because he said he had contracted the coronavirus, and forced him to put his head on the pavement. Moments later he lost consciousness.
He died in a hospital a week later, when life support was disconnected.
All seven officers present were suspended and New York State Attorney General Letitia James is conducting an investigation into the event.
In a statement, Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary said the allegations about his lack of initiative on the matter and alleged attempts to cover up the case were a “mischaracterization” and criticized the “politicization” of his officers. Actions.
“As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities try to destroy my character,” said Singletary, who is black.
Singletary, 40, was named Rochester Police Chief in April 2019. He spent 20 years in the city’s police force before retiring Tuesday.
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Attorney General James announced Saturday that she would form a grand jury to investigate Prude’s death, a preliminary step for a possible indictment.
Local media said an autopsy ruled the death a homicide caused by “complications from suffocation under physical restraint.”
The report also listed a low level of the PCP drug in Prude’s blood.
The revelation of Prude’s death sparked protests in Rochester and New York City demanding justice for the victim and reforms at the Rochester police department.
Prude’s death has grim echoes of those of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, also black Americans who died in police incidents and whose deaths sparked a wave of anti-racism demonstrations that have rocked America since May.
