Demonstrators occupied the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Dr. Samuel McCree Way in Rochester late into Wednesday night, after an afternoon and evening of protests over the death of a Black man named Daniel Prude.
Prude died after he stopped breathing while being restrained by three Rochester police officers during a mental hygiene call. Prude, who was having psychotic episodes, was naked and bloody on Jefferson Avenue on a snowy night in mid-March when the officers found him. His family had called 911 seeking help after he ran from his brother’s house in an agitated state.
Police handcuffed Prude, who at first cooperated with them. But as he grew agitated, officers put a “spit hood” over his head and held him to the pavement, one with a knee to his back. Prude had stopped breathing by the time EMTs and an ambulance arrived and began CPR on him. He died a week later at the hospital. The Monroe County Medical Examiner labeled the case a homicide and the cause of death as asphyxia. Prude also had traces of PCP in his system.
Black Lives Matter held a late morning news conference Wednesday with Prude’s family, which had just gotten copies of the police body cam video through a freedom of information request. The family announced a lawsuit against the city and demanded the arrest of the three officers involved.
Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief La’Ron Singletary then held their own news conference in which they denied BLM claims of a coverup. They said the city hadn’t publicized the incident because it was part of an ongoing investigation. The investigation was taken over in April by the State Attorney General’s Office under executive orders from Governor Andrew Cuomo that the AG must investigate all cases involving the death of an unarmed minority person by police. Mayor Warren said nothing could be done by the city until that investigation is complete.
BLM demonstrators tried to force their way into the mayor’s news conference and were blocked by police. Nine were arrested as follows:
India Maring 20 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd, Resisting Arrest
Tarik Grandoit 28 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd
Sofi Wolfanger 21 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd
Iman Abid 28 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd
Ashley Gantt 34 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd
Taylor Howauth 25 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd, Resisting Arrest
Breyana Clark 21 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd
Stanley Martin 27 yoa Criminal Trespass 3rd, Resisting Arrest
Ryan Howe 27 yoa Inciting a Riot, Resisting Arrest
A crowd of demonstrators that eventually grew to about 100 formed outside the Public Safety Building. Police and State Troopers swept them off Exchange Boulevard, but they continued to rattle the steel barriers put up in front of the building and four times were forced back by police firing pepper balls to break up the crowd.
About 6:00 p.m. the demonstrators marched through Corn Hill to Jefferson Avenue and the spot where Prude had been restrained. They blocked the intersection, chanted and sang in the rain that passed overhead. Eventually a DJ was brought in and the event turned into something of a celebration of Prude’s life.
Demonstrators left about 11:00 pm saying they would be back on Thursday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued a statement expressing her condolences to the Prude family and saying she shares the community’s concerns about a fair and independent investigation. She also says she supports their right to protest.
Governor Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday night that he would be watching the body cam footage, but made no other comment saying it remains an ongoing investigation.