Several demonstrators were arrested in New York City on Wednesday after protesters reportedly attacked bystanders during a march for Daniel Prude, a black man who died months ago after being placed in police custody.
The unrest follows a Rochester grand jury’s Tuesday decision not to levy charges against officers involved in Prude’s death.
An estimated 300 law enforcement personnel responded to reports of dozens of unruly demonstrators spray-painting a cab in Brooklyn and assaulting pedestrians in the evening, witnesses told the New York Post. Witnesses also said at least nine people were apprehended, and police told the outlet some were arrested, but an exact number was not specified.
NO CHARGES FOR OFFICERS INVOLVED IN DANIEL PRUDE’S DEATH AFTER GRAND JURY DECLINES TO INDICT
The New York City Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
In March 2020, the 41-year-old Prude was acting erratically, and law enforcement officers later arrived to assist. Footage surfaced weeks later, showing Prude naked with a hood over his face while officers tried to restrain him. He later died of “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint,” according to a medical examiner.
“A grand jury has voted not to indict any police officer on charges related to the death of Daniel Prude,” New York Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a Twitter thread Tuesday afternoon. “My office concluded there was sufficient evidence surrounding Mr. Prude’s death to present the case to a grand jury, and we presented the most comprehensive case possible.”
News of Prude’s death surfaced following protests and riots that resulted from the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes toward the end of May 2020. Prude’s death amplified calls to reform law enforcement and reallocate funding.
Hundreds took to the streets in Rochester following the jury verdict, but no arrests were made despite a large law enforcement presence.
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“Daniel Prude was in the throes of a mental health crisis and what he needed was compassion, care, and help from trained professionals. Tragically, he received none of those things,” James said in the announcement. “The current laws on deadly force have created a system that utterly and abjectly failed Mr. Prude and so many others before him. Serious reform is needed, not only at the Rochester Police Department, but to our criminal justice system as a whole. I will be pursuing a multifaceted approach to address the very issues that have prevented us from holding officers accountable when they improperly use deadly force. I am committed to effecting the change that is so desperately needed, and I will be unshakeable in my efforts to see it through.”
