Human Rights in the USA: Police officers assault an African-American prisoner to death

New York authorities released shocking videos on Friday of an African-American prisoner being beaten by guards at a prison in the area before he died. The footage, captured by body cameras, shows the prisoner covered in blood as he is beaten, lying on a hospital bed surrounded by at least six men.

According to the video, the prisoner was sitting handcuffed and clearly injured, while one of the officers put on a glove and grabbed him by the collar with the help of a colleague to pin him to a wall.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James said during a press conference that the cameras were "on" but "the officers did not activate them, so they were filming without sound."

James said that the videos broadcast on Friday were "shocking and disturbing (...) and I do not take their broadcast lightly, especially during the holiday season," justifying their publication with "transparency."

For her part, the family's attorney, Elizabeth Mazur, said that watching the prisoner "devastated" his relatives.

The events took place on December 9 at a prison in northern New York State.

The prisoner, Robert Brooks, 43, died from the assault. He was serving a 12-year sentence for violence.

The local press reported that the results of the initial autopsy showed that his death was the result of "asphyxia due to compression of the neck."