Protests continue in Rochester, New York after police chief, command staff step down
Rochester, N.Y., Police Chief La'Ron Singletary and senior members of his command staff announce their retirements from the force amid criticism from city leaders of the handling of the police-involved death of Daniel Prude; Aishah Hasnie reports.
More than a dozen semi-nude people wearing “spit hoods” sat at the entrance to Rochester’s City Hall on Thursday – the second time in only days – to protest the death of Daniel Prude just hours after hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets for the eighth consecutive night, according to officials and multiple reports.
The protesters sat in front of the City Hall’s Church Street entrance on Thursday morning, wearing the mesh coverings, known as “spit hoods,” over their heads to mimic the circumstances of Prude’s March 23 arrest, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, died after police found him running naked in a street, put a hood over his head to stop him from spitting, then held him down for about 2 minutes, according to reports. He died a week later after he was taken off life support.
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His brother had called 911 seeking help for Prude's unusual behavior. He had been taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation earlier that night but was released after a few hours, his brother told officers.
A medical examiner concluded that Prude's death was a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.” The report lists excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP, as contributing factors.
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His death sparked outrage last week after his relatives released police body camera video and written reports they obtained through a public records request.
Thursday’s demonstration marked the ninth day of protests.
Police said nearly 200 people protested Wednesday night, marching to the Public Safety Building where they “defeated both layers of barricades.”
No arrests were made overnight, police said.
Seven police officers have been suspended in connection with Prude’s death. On Tuesday, Police Chief La’Ron Singletary, Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and two commanders retired, while two more deputy chiefs and a commander gave up top leadership positions and returned to lower ranks. The outgoing chief accused critics of trying to “destroy my character and integrity.”
“The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for," Singletary said in a prepared statement. "The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude’s death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for.”
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U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy said Adam Green, of Dansville, N.Y., struck an officer in the head Saturday night with a makeshift wooden shield after the crowd was told to disperse, while Dallas Williams-Smothers, of Rochester, threw a “mortar-style, commercial grade” firework at a line of police officers that same night.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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