Prison guards charged for murdering Robert Brooks
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Ten officers were charged in the killing of Robert Brooks on Thursday. Screenshot via New York State Attorney General office via AP
By Jacob Kaye
Five New York prison guards were charged with murder Thursday after they allegedly beat 43-year-old Robert Brooks to death while his hands were cuffed behind his back in Marcy Correctional Facility in December.
The five officers, Nicholas Anazalone, Anthony Farina, Mathew Galliher, Christopher Walrath and David Kingsley, were arrested and brought up on murder in the second degree charges for the gruesome beating caught on body-worn camera footage.
Three other other officers, Michael Fisher, David Walters and Michael Mashaw were hit with manslaughter charges. One officer, Nicholas Gentile, is facing a charge of tampering with physical evidence.
A tenth, unnamed officer, did not turn themselves in to prosecutors on Thursday and will be brought up on second degree murder charges later this month.
Three additional officers recently reached a plea deal with Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick, who is serving as a special prosecutor on the case after New York Attorney General Letitia James recused herself from the case.
Three other Department of Corrections and Community Supervision employees remain under investigation.
All nine of the officers pleaded not guilty on Thursday.
The five officers charged with murder were released on a $250,000 bond while the three charged with manslaughter were released on a $100,000 bond. Gentile was released on his own recognizance.
Robert Brooks Jr. (center) said on Thursday that the indictments brought against 10 officers accused of killing his father, Robert Brooks, was an important step “toward accountability.” AP file photo by Carolyn Thompson
Two of the officers resigned following Brooks’ killing. The rest are currently suspended without pay as their terminations are pending.
The charges mark a major step toward some semblance of justice after the beating of Brooks, whose death shocked New Yorkers.
“Indictments are important steps toward accountability,” Robert Brooks Jr., Brooks’ son, said during a press conference on Thursday. “These men murdered my father. It was on video. The whole world got to see it. Waiting months for these charges has been extremely hard, but these men need to be prosecuted and convicted of the crimes they committed.”
Brooks first arrived at Marcy in December, after being involved in two altercations at Mohawk Correctional Facility earlier that month. Fitzpatrick called his transfer to Marcy “ironic” on Thursday, noting the move was made for Brooks’ safety.
Brooks barely made it onto Marcy’s grounds before the beatings began.
According to Fitzpatrick, Brooks did nothing to provoke the attack from the over half dozen officers, who repeatedly kicked, punched and tossed Brooks around as his hands were shackled behind his back.
Video of the incident shows that both the officers attacking him and the nurses and staff standing by had little concern for Brooks’ health, even though he appeared to go unconscious at times.
The footage begins with the officers carrying Brooks from an outdoor area to the infirmary. With his hands cuffed behind his back, Brooks was lifted by two officers, each holding one of his arms, as his feet dragged on the ground.
Once inside of the medical facility, the officers placed Brooks on a bed. Seated upright with his hands still behind his back, Brooks already appeared dazed and dizzy, his head slumping over several times.
At least one officer then punched Brooks several times, knocking him onto his back. Moments later, two officers lifted the incarcerated man to a seated position, his face now bloody and his eyes closed.
That’s when an officer, believed to be Farina, kicked Brooks in the stomach, and began holding the incarcerated man’s body down with his boot. Later in the video, Farina is seen allegedly unloading several punches into Brooks’ buttocks.
Throughout the apparent attack, several officers stood idly by, watching and having what appears to be casual conversations with one another, occasionally smiling and laughing. No one appears to have attempted to stop the beating.
The entire incident was captured on body-worn camera footage, which was recording the attack without any of the officers’ knowledge.
Brooks’ death quickly sparked outrage. The attack was denounced by DOCCS Commissioner Daniel Martuscello, the correctional officers’ union, multiple elected officials, advocacy groups and the governor, who ordered the termination of the officers and called on DOCCS to make a series of procedural changes in light of the beating.
“Robert Brooks should be alive today,” Hochul said on Thursday after the indictment against the officers was unsealed.
“This incident is a sobering reminder of the challenges facing our correctional system,” Hochul added. “I will continue doing everything in my power to keep our correctional facilities safe for all.”
The indictment’s come as New York’s prisons face a crisis. An unsanctioned strike by correctional officers at 36 prisons across New York have led to lockdowns in a number of facilities. Visitations and programming for incarcerated New Yorkers has been suspended for four days.
Hochul deployed the National Guard on Thursday to fill the staffing void in New York’s prison system. Additionally, Martuscello issued a memo on Thursday suspending the state’s HALT Solitary Act, which bans the use of solitary confinement, a practice deemed torture by the UN. Striking guards have complained that the restrictions on solitary confinement have left the prisons less safe.
Martuscello also offered a two-and-a-half hourly rate for overtime, rescinded a controversial change regarding staffing levels and said no disciplinary action would be taken against any striking officer who returned to work as soon as 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.
