N.Y. grand jury to be impaneled in death of Black man held by police

The New York attorney general announced Saturday that her office will impanel a grand jury as part of its investigation into the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man whom police hooded and pinned to the ground in a graphic video that drew an outcry Friday and last week.

Protests and calls for justice erupted in Rochester, N.Y., after the 41-year-old Prude’s family released footage that pushed his death five months ago into the national spotlight. Seven police officers were suspended as officials faced growing questions about their handling of the case, which a medical examiner ruled a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.”

The grand jury’s deliberations could lead to criminal charges in Prude’s death, the latest to spark outrage about police tactics and treatment of Black Americans — and calls for accountability for individual officers as well as systemic reform.

“Mr. Daniel Prude was failed by our police, our mental health system, our society and me,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, a Democrat, said last week, adding that the police chief had told her earlier that Prude overdosed on drugs while in custody.

Attorney General Letitia James’ announcement came after a third night of demonstrations in Rochester, where police said more than 2,000 people showed up downtown Friday evening. Violence broke out as police fired pepper balls and tear gas and said officers were hospitalized with injuries from “projectiles and incendiary devices.”