New York Attorney General To Empanel Grand Jury In Daniel Prude Case Amid Protests

“The Prude family and the Rochester community have been through great pain and anguish,” James said in a statement announcing the Grand Jury empanelment.

Protests turned violent Friday night, according to Spectrum News 11, with 11 people arrested and three police officers hospitalized.

Though he died in March, reports of Prude’s death first surfaced Wednesday after his family held a press conference and released body-cam footage of his arrest and reports obtained through a public record request.

The Monroe County medical examiner pronounced Prude’s death a homicide caused by “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.”

Prude, was reportedly acting erratically during the March 22 incident that led officers to making a mental health arrest, handcuffing him, then placing a white mesh “spit-hood,” meant to protect officers from bodily fluids, over his head.

Prude became agitated, then officers slammed onto the pavement, with one officer pushing his head into the ground while another drove a knee into Prude’s back, all while Prude was spitting and vomiting into the hood — Prude died a week later after being taken off life support.