[2] Body camera footage showed that Brooks was handcuffed and had a prior facial injury, and appeared to be compliant, before being fatally beaten.
[4] Prior to the killing of Robert Brooks, Marcy Correctional Facility was the subject of numerous reports of prisoner abuse.
Anthony Farina and Sergeant Glenn Trombly, both implicated in the killing of Robert Brooks, were involved in the 2020 assault and disfigurement of the inmate William Alvarez.
Nicholas Anzalone, also implicated in the killing of Brooks, was one of four Marcy officers named in a federal lawsuit for the 2020 beating of Adam Bauer, a non-violent drug offender.
NYSDOCCS commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III made a statement that “It is not enough to simply condemn this horrific act and then go back to business,” emphasizing that his department now audits body cameras to ensure they remain activated at correctional facilites.
[1] NYSDOCCS declined to comment when it was revealed that at least three officers involved in the beating of Brooks (Anzalone, Trombly, and Farina) had documented prior histories of violence and abuse against prisoners.
[6] On December 21, New York governor Kathy Hochul ordered the firing of 13 officers and 1 nurse involved in the incident following an internal review.
Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick was appointed to serve as special counsel in James's place.