By Dawn LaGuerre
On December 9, 2024, Robert L. Brooks Sr., a 43-year-old inmate at Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York, was fatally beaten by correctional officers. Body-worn camera footage reveals officers assaulting the restrained Brooks, including striking him in the chest with a shoe and lifting him by the neck before dropping him. Brooks succumbed to his injuries the following day.
In response, Robert L. Brooks Jr. has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the involved officers, the facility’s former superintendent, and the commissioner of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The lawsuit alleges excessive force, indifference to Brooks Sr.’s medical needs, gross negligence, and wrongful death. Brooks Jr. expressed his desire for his father’s name to be remembered beyond his final moments, stating, “I want the name Robert L. Brooks to be known forever and not just for his last final moments.”
Brooks Sr.’s mother has demanded that the suspended correctional officers be charged with murder, intensifying calls for accountability. The incident has sparked widespread outrage and demands for systemic reforms within the New York prison system. Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered the firing of the implicated employees, appointed a new superintendent for Marcy Correctional Facility, and initiated a cultural review of state prisons. Additionally, a special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate the death.
Renowned civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump has announced plans to represent the Brooks family. He is scheduled to speak at a forum on January 18 at Olivet Church on Adams Avenue in Rochester, New York, to address the educational crisis in Rochester and explore potential solutions.
The National Black United Front (NBUF), an African-American organization formed in 1980 in Brooklyn, New York, has been actively involved in advocating for prison reform and justice for individuals like Robert Brooks Sr. NBUF focuses on the advancement of all people of African descent and has been involved in various initiatives, including demanding reparations, disaster relief, prison reform, and advocating for Afrikan-centered education.
