‘Shocking’ footage shows handcuffed inmate who died after prison guards beat him

(NEW YORK) — Excerpts of body-worn camera footage from four corrections officers were released Friday by the New York Attorney General’s Office showing the in-custody beating of 43-year-old inmate Robert Brooks, who the AG’s office says was brutalized by prison guards while handcuffed at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida, New York, earlier this month.

In the footage reviewed by ABC News, which the AG’s office says was from a Dec. 9 incident, multiple officers can be seen holding Brooks upright on an exam table, with his arms restrained, punching and kicking him in the face, torso and genitals. The beating was described in a deposition by an investigator for the New York Department of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.

Brooks had been transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility on the day of the attack from nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility.

He was pronounced dead at a local hospital the following day, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is investigating the incident.

“As attorney general, you have my word that we will use every possible tool to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly,” James said in a press conference Friday.

Elizabeth Mazur, an attorney for the Brooks family, told ABC News, “Members of the public can now view for themselves the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack on Robert L. Brooks. As viewers can see, Mr. Brooks was fatally, violently beaten by a group of officers whose job was to keep him safe. He deserved to live, and everyone else living in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they do not have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff.”

Details of Brooks’ death were outlined in the state investigator’s deposition filed Tuesday by New York State Police.

The deposition was filed by Ryan Paparella, an investigator for the Department of Corrections and Community Services and was brought in to review this incident. In the deposition, Paparella , details his assessment of the body camera footage showing Brooks’ attack.

Paparella did not mention any apparent provocation or motive in his deposition and noted Brooks had his arms and legs restrained throughout the 15-minute assault. Paparella is a former corrections officer at the same prison where the incident took place.

Paparella’s deposition stated: “The male was on the ground [outside near a fence]… I observed correction officers pick up the male off the ground who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The hands of the black male were extended directly above his head as his upper torso was parallel with the ground. They continued to walk the male down the sidewalk and towards an open door of the infirmary.”

Paparella reported a corrections officer delivered a “closed fist strike to the chest” while Brooks was handcuffed, and detailed officers pushing Brooks’ body up against an interior window.

Preliminary findings of Brooks’ autopsy by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office, “show concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another,” New York State Police wrote in a court filing.

Paparella detailed that two sergeants and a nurse watched the attack and neglected to intervene. They are among the 14 prison staffers whom New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered to be terminated by the state.

“Like all New Yorkers, I was outraged and horrified after seeing footage of the senseless killing of Robert Brooks. I have been clear that it is the responsibility of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to provide appropriate care and protection for those in its custody, and I will not tolerate anyone who violates that responsibility,” Hochul said in a statement Friday. “The State of New York has zero tolerance for individuals who break the law, and I am committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable.”

One of the officers who Paparella reported participated in the incident is currently facing civil litigation for his alleged involvement in the 2020 beating of another inmate at Marcy Correctional, according to court records.

The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association issued a statement reading, “What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day… This incident has the potential to make our correctional facilities even more violent, hostile, and unpredictable than ever before.”

The Correctional Association of New York (CANY), a state oversight group, said in a statement that terminating staff involved in the incident “is a good start, but Governor Kathy Hochul and the legislature must go much further.”

“They need to take bold and courageous actions to fulfill past commitments and bring about a new era of transparency and accountability in state government,” the release reads.

A 2023 CANY report on Marcy Correctional Facility found that four out of five prisoners reported witnessing or experiencing abuse and seven out of 10 prisoners reported racial discrimination from guards.

One person interviewed at Marcy correctional facility told CANY: “Physical abuse is rampant; the [correction officer] told me when I got here: ‘This is a hands-on facility, we’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing.'”

The New York Civil Liberties Union stated Brooks’ death “highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by corrections officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk.”

A 2024 review by the Department of Justice found that at least 28 incarcerated people were murdered while in custody during 2022, with 50 deaths classified as “accidental,” a term that is not defined in the report.

James, the attorney general, announced Friday that four involved officers did not turn their body-worn cameras on, which violates state policy, however, the cameras recorded in standby mode with no audio.

Department of Corrections Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III issued a memo this month, stating corrections officers’ must have their body cameras actively recording during any interaction with inmates. Martuscello wrote that employees must “immediately report any individual who intentionally or unintentionally circumvents the [body-worn camera] policy.”

“This was a killing, and people will be held accountable,” according to a statement issued by Martuscello following Brooks’ death. “No one is above the law and everyone who works here is held to the highest ethical standards. These individuals are not representative of the culture of DOCCS nor anything that DOCCS stands for. I am committed to vigorously pursuing justice for the Brooks family and ensuring that our agency takes the necessary steps to heal the community.”

Brooks was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2017 for stabbing his girlfriend in Monroe County.

Thirteen of the staffers have been suspended without pay and one resigned the day after the incident.

The investigation is still ongoing with the New York AG’s Office and the NY Dept of Corrections Office of Special Investigations.