`Daniel Prude died because of mistakes made by the police department, the mental health care system, society and himself. I feel overwhelmed with grief, as well as anger at myself for the mistakes that led to this.
Warren said she did not know the circumstances leading to Prude’s death until August, and condemned the black man’s death as an act of racism.
Police put a hood over their head after handcuffing Daniel Prude on March 23.
Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary said an internal investigation was underway and the police department also opened a criminal investigation into Prude’s death, but did not provide further details.
The Prude family’s lawyer has not commented on the information.
Daniel Prude, a black man, ran naked through the streets of Rochester, western New York, on the evening of March 23 before police put a hood over his head and pressed his face to the sidewalk for two minutes.
Prude’s death went unnoticed by the public until the man’s family held a press conference on September 2 and released video extracted from the police officer’s body camera, along with the report they obtained.
Video released at the press conference shows Prude complying with police orders to lie on the ground and put his hands behind his back.
An officer used both hands to push Prude’s head to the sidewalk and said `don’t spit` while the man stopped screaming and started moaning.
Black people died because police put hoods on their heads
Police handcuffed and forced Daniel Prude’s head onto the street, March 23.
Prude stopped moving and was silent.
Forensic experts concluded that Prude’s death was `a murder due to complications of suffocation during restraint.`
The city of Rochester stopped investigating Prude’s death after New York State Attorney General Letitia James opened her own investigation in April. Under New York law, the state attorney general’s office will investigate cases of unarmed people.
An officer involved in the arrest said they put a hood over Prude’s head because the man kept spitting in their direction and the officers were worried about contracting nCoV.