New York prison guards charged in beating death of handcuffed inmate

UTICA, N.Y. — Six New York state prison workers have been indicted on second-degree murder charges in the beating death of an inmate who was handcuffed, while four others were charged with lesser crimes.

The beating of Robert Brooks by multiple officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in December was caught on body cameras, triggering widespread outrage and calls for justice.

Some of the corrections officers appeared in a Utica courtroom in handcuffs while a judge heard pleas and considered bond.

Prison guards Nicholas Anzalone, David Kingsley, Anthony Farina, Christopher Walrath and Mathew Galliher were among the people charged with second-degree murder, according to court documents. The name of the sixth person was redacted because they are to appear in court at another time.

All six were also charged with first-degree manslaughter, meaning prosecutors believe they are criminally liable for the conduct of others.

The special prosecutor, Onondaga County Dist. Atty. William Fitzpatrick, said Thursday that he would prove in court that the guards thought the body-worn cameras were all off, raising concerns about a culture among guards in which a group beating of an inmate could be carried out with an apparent “sense of normalcy.”

Robert Brooks Jr., the victim’s son, said such systemic issues must be rooted out, and higher authorities held accountable.

“These men killed my father — it was on video. The whole world got to see it. Waiting a month for these charges has been incredibly hard. But these men must be prosecuted and convicted of the crimes they made,” he said.

Body-camera video shows officers pummeling Brooks, whose hands were cuffed behind his back. Officers struck him in the chest with a shoe and lifted him by the neck and dropped him. The video recorded on the night of Dec. 9 has no sound, but the guards meting out the punishment and watching it appear unconcerned. Brooks, 43, died the next day.

An autopsy report issued by the county medical examiner’s office in January concluded that Brooks’ death was caused by compression of his neck and multiple blunt impact injuries, and that the manner of his death was homicide, according to Brooks’ family attorneys.

Gov. Kathy Hochul first announced the murder charges early Thursday afternoon in a statement. “Robert Brooks should be alive today. The brutal attack on Mr. Brooks was sickening,” she said.

Hochul’s announcement of the murder charges came on the fourth day of a wildcat strike, in which at least some corrections officers are refusing to report for their shifts at 36 correctional facilities across the state, according to prison officials.

“This incident is a sobering reminder of the challenges facing our correctional system,” the governor said in Thursday’s statement. She said she had been working with the acting head of the state Department of Corrections, Daniel Martuscello, on safety reforms, including “installing new security cameras, strengthening the Office of Special Investigations and increasing compensation for our hard-working correction officers.”

Hochul had ordered state officials to initiate proceedings to fire more than a dozen employees implicated in the attack on Brooks.

Brooks had been serving a 12-year prison sentence for first-degree assault since 2017. He arrived at the prison 200 miles northwest of New York City only hours before the beating after being transferred from a nearby facility, officials said.

Robert Brooks Jr., claimed in a federal lawsuit filed in January that his father’s attackers “systematically and casually beat him to death” and that the prison system tolerates violence.

Even before Brooks’ death, employees at the medium-security prison had been accused of abusing incarcerated people.

Fitzpatrick took over the case as a special prosecutor after state Atty. Gen. Letitia James recused herself, citing her office’s representation of several implicated officers in separate civil lawsuits. Those employees had previously been accused of either taking part in previous beatings of inmates or letting them continue.

“It’s fortunate that video evidence of a callous murder made it possible for charges to be brought against these officers. For far too long, that evidence has not existed, making transparency and accountability out of reach,” said Jennifer Scaife, executive director of the Correctional Assn. of New York.

That watchdog group reported “rampant abuse by staff” at Marcy after interviewing people incarcerated there in October 2022, who told them of physical assaults in locations without cameras, such as between the gates, in vans and in showers.

A guard told one new arrival that Marcy was a “hands-on facility,” adding: “We’re going to put hands on you if we don’t like what you’re doing,” according to the report.