Late Tuesday, the Upper New York City protesters came down the streets of Rochester to express anger at the decision of the grand jury not to bring the Rochester police involved in the death of Daniel Prude, claiming the “system did what it intended to do.”
A few days after his meetings with the police during an episode of mental health, the Democrat and Chronicle reported, hundreds of demonstrations took place along the street where Prude, 41, died in March.
Activist Stanley Martin, a candidate for a municipal council, was among the first to speak to those at the public security building in central Rochester, two weeks after the video was released in early September showing 7 police laughing at Prude’s bare face as he was handcuffing.
Martin said, “White supremacy marches are white supremacists. “It is not intended to protect us [The system]. The machine did what it was supposed to do.”
Martin continued: “We keep marching; we keep fighting; we keep reimaging what the future looks like. The future does not include RPD and I know that for a fact.”
At the intersection, Prude approached the police at 7:30 p. m, over 100 protestors were huddled. The report says Tuesday. Tuesday. Then the party marched to the building for public protection, chanting at Civic Center Plaza, which had been infringed by some of Monroe Sheriff’s offices.
“You are unlawfully assembled and breaching police barricades on Exchange Blvd.,” deputies tweeted shortly after 11 p.m. “Please DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY or face arrest. Obey officer commands. We are being patient. Please DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY.”
According to the Democrat and Chronicle, there were no arrests or clashes with officers, but demonstrators would have vowed to go back.
Prude’s seven cops’ attorneys said the officers followed their training and insisted that Prude’s use of the PCP was the “root cause” of Prude’s death, which was ruled a murder. During his meetings with police officers, the man was placed in a “spit hood” until he stopped breathing before being pushed into the pavement.
At Tuesday’s rally, in turn, some activists said that Prude’s death struggle for justice is far from over. The US Justice Department is planning to review the findings of Attorney General Letitia James, whose office took over the investigation, according to a joint statement from its Civil Rights Division, the FBI and the US Attorney for the Western District of New York.
