Hundreds of fuming New Yorkers marched outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Midtown office on Monday furiously demanding the arrest of correction officers who allegedly murdered inmate Robert Brooks in an upstate prison.
Protesters of all ages came in support of a man who can no longer speak for himself. Brooks, a Black man in custody at Marcy Correctional Facility, appeared to have been beaten to death on Dec. 9 by a group of white officers as his hands were cuffed behind his back. The disturbing incident was captured on video and released last week.
Those who came to Hochul’s office on Dec. 30 demanded justice in Brooks’ name while calling the killing a “modern-day lynching.”
“We don’t have to go back to 1960, we can go back to Marcy Correctional Facility because a modern-day Lynching happened,” said Reverend Kevin McCall, who led the rally. McCall further issued an ultimatum to Hochul and the state government — threatening to “shut the state of New York down” if those directly responsible for Brooks’ murder were not held accountable.
“We are demanding that every single person who has anything to do with the death of Robert Brooks be fired and arrested. If that does not happen by Jan. 31, we are going to shut the state of New York down. We’re gonna shut down the state of New York by any means necessary.”
While McCall did not say exactly how his group would shut down the Big Apple, hundreds of demonstrators on Monday gave a possible hint by taking to the streets near Hochul’s office — stalling traffic outside of the office as they marched around it. Throughout the demonstration, they raised their fists in the air and furiously demanded that Hochul take action.
The Dec. 30 march came after Hochul visited Marcy Correctional and ordered an investigation into the brutal beating. The governor said Monday that she is making sweeping changes to the prison, including adding correctional staff to the Office of Special Investigations and adding more cameras.
“Today, as I stood in the room where Robert Brooks was killed, I was once again heartbroken by this unnecessary loss of life and further sickened to think of the actions of depraved individuals with no regard for human life,” Hochul said. “Mr. Brooks and his family did not deserve this. I told both Marcy leadership and the incarcerated individuals that I met with that every single individual who enters a DOCCS facility deserves to be safe, whether they are employed there or serving their time. The system failed Mr. Brooks and I will not be satisfied until there has been significant culture change.”
However, protesters and advocates say Hochul’s actions to date are not enough.
Those who have spent time in New York jails and prisons say inmate beatings are all too common — and they demand that those who killed Brooks be arrested and prosecuted.
“As American citizens, we shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process. There was no due process for Robert Brooks,” Black Lives Matter Greater New York co-founder Hawk Newsome said. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation needs to arrest these cops immediately.”
Kcassman