What experts see in the ‘shocking and disturbing’ video of New York man’s fatal beating in prison

Body camera footage documenting the fatal beating of Robert Brooks at the hands of New York state correctional officers has triggered an outpouring of rage and condemnations – and analysis from experts who said the video shows a misuse of force by officers.

Body camera footage documenting the fatal beating of Robert Brooks at the hands of New York state corrections officers has triggered an outpouring of rage and condemnations – and analysis from experts who said the video shows a misuse of force by officers. Brooks, a man incarcerated at the Marcy Correctional Facility in central New York, was pronounced dead in the early hours of December 10 at a Utica hospital. Earlier in the day, he had been transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy and beaten by corrections officers in a medical examination room, while handcuffed with his hands behind his back. Body camera footage shows officers repeatedly punching and kicking Brooks in the face, chest, and groin until he stops moving. The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations has opened an investigation into Brooks’ death. Attorney General Letitia James pledged Friday to “use every possible tool available to us to investigate this death thoroughly and swiftly” and described the footage of the beating as “shocking and disturbing.” It is difficult to draw conclusions about the situation because the video footage does not capture any audio or show what led up to the violence immediately preceding Brooks’ death. But in the opinion of several experts who reviewed the video, the footage showcases an excessive use of force by officers as well as a failure by other officers to intervene. “I can’t believe the excessive force that these corrections officers used,” Michael Alcazar, a retired NYPD Detective and adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told CNN Friday. Here’s more on what experts said about the video.