NY attorney general to select a grand jury for the death of Daniel Prude

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced Saturday that her office will select a grand jury as part of its investigation into the death of Daniel Prude.

“The Prude family and the Rochester community have been through great pain and anguish,” James said in a statement. “My office will immediately move to empanel a grand jury as part of our exhaustive investigation into this matter.”

James first began a probe into Prude’s death in April. Her decision to empanel a grand jury comes after days of unrest in Rochester, N.Y. following the release of new details in the death of Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died of asphyxiation in March after an encounter with police.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren (D) said Thursday that seven officers involved in the confrontation had been suspended, marking the first disciplinary action in more than five months since Prude’s death.

Video and records his family released Wednesday showed Rochester police placing a hood over Prude’s head and pressing his face into the pavement for two minutes before he died. 

Prude was apprehended by police after he ran naked through the streets while experiencing some sort of mental distress. He reportedly died a week later on March 30 once he was taken off life support.

Prude’s 18-year-old daughter Tashyrah Prude blamed “racist” police for her father’s death during a virtual press conference earlier Thursday.