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Elizabeth Bratton writes about Daniel Prude; a 41-year-old Black man who was killed in police custody. In March of this year, Prude was experiencing a mental health crisis, when his brother dialled 911. The father-of-five ran into the street naked, was detained by police officers who mocked him, knelt on his back, and covered his head with a "spit hood". The cause of death has been ruled a homicide, and activists are calling for the officers involved to be fired.
41-year-old Daniel Prude died on the 30th of March 2020, after he was restrained by police in Rochester, New York. Officers used a "spit hood" to cover his head, and held him against the road for two minutes. He was initially detained on the 23rd of March, and, having been placed on life support, died of asphysxiation a week later.
Daniel Prude was reportedly having a mental health crisis, when his brother Joe Prude rang the police at 3am. Prude had spent the previous day in hospital, after experiencing suicidal thoughts. Once he had left his brother's home, the father-of-five took off his clothes, and ran into the street "in an erratic state". A witness claimed a naked man had been trying to break into cars, while saying he had the coronavirus.
Video footage shows Prude complying with police orders, getting on the ground, and placing his hands behind his head. He spits on the floor while sitting on the ground naked, and consequently has a spit hood placed over his head. Once his head is covered, Prude becomes distressed, and shouts "Give me that gun. Give me that gun." One officer is seen to place both hands on Prude's head, while another kneels on his back. While this is happening, the hood remains on. Prude is told to "calm down", however, after two minutes, he goes unconscious. A cop asks, “You good, man?”, soon realising Prude has thrown water up onto the floor.
At a press conference on Wednesday the 3rd of September, Joe Prude labelled the incident a "cold-blooded murder". He continued, "How many more brothers got to die for society to understand that this needs to stop?" The disturbing bodycam footage has recently been released, and shows police laughing at Prude as he sat in the street, speaking unintelligbly. The mocking continued, as he writhed on the floor, naked and handcuffed. Prude's shouts are eventually muffled when his face is held against the pavement.
"I placed a phone call for my brother to get help. Not for my brother to get lynched." - Joe Prude
15 minutes later, Prude arrived at the hospital. He was deemed brain dead. The Monroe County Medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, according to autopsy reports. Complications of asphyxia, excited delirium, and acute PCP intoxication have also been identified as contributing factors. Attorneys are currently in the process of filing a wrongful death suit, while the officers involved have currently kept their positions.
Excited delirium syndrome has been a cause for much controversy, as it is oftened used to justify police killings. As Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's kneck earlier this year, he uttered: "I am concerned about excited delirium or whatever." In 2019, Elijah McClain died after officers injected him with ketamine while Manuel Ellis died in March 2020 after being repeatedly struck by police. Both men were Black and unarmed. Excited delerium was cited as justification for force and cause of death respectively. Law enforcement officials are taught that the condition is characterised by "the abrupt onset of aggression and distress", usually when drugs are involved. However, the syndrome is not recognised by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, or the World Health Organization.
The state of New York has ceased its own investigation into the death, as the office of attorney general Letitia James launched its own. The latter is still ongoing. Although the death occurred months ago, the family's lawyer explained that details could only be released now, as it had taken "months" for police footage to be available.
Rochester mayor Lovely Warren clarified: "I want everyone to understand that at no point in time did we feel that this was something that we wanted not to disclose. We are precluded from getting involved in it until that agency has completed their investigation."
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