Statement from Speaker Carl Heastie

Statement from Speaker Carl Heastie

The severe beating and subsequent death of Robert Brooks at the Marcy Correctional Facility is deeply disturbing. The videos from body-worn cameras of the corrections officers who participated or enabled this incident are extremely difficult to watch. Mr. Brooks was shackled and defenseless, but that didn't stop corrections officers from administering a brutal and extended beating that can only be described as torture. Nothing about this incident serves to make our society safer - not the honest and hardworking personnel of our prison system who follow the law, not the incarcerated individuals they are charged with overseeing and certainly not the public. Mr. Brooks was convicted and serving time for his crime, but beating, torture and death were not part of his sentence. Justice demands accountability for each and every individual involved in the brutalization of Mr. Brooks as well as those who stood by and allowed this abomination to happen. And to Mr. Brooks family, I extend my deepest condolences as they face this unconscionable tragedy.