Unarmed black man died from police asphyxiation back in March, now revealed

Image of Daniel Prude from CNN (https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/03/us/rochester-police-daniel-prude-death/index.html)

An incident involving a US unarmed black man being restrained by police and later dying of asphyxiation has now been made public.

Daniel Prude, 41, died in Rochester, New York state on the 23rd of March. He was held down on the road for two minutes and had a "spit hood" placed on his head, as shown by body camera footage.

"Spit hoods" are fabric hoods used on detainees to prevent them spitting or biting officers.

It took until now for the case to be made public as releasing the police footage took "months", according to the family's lawyer.

In a news conference held yesterday, Mr Prude's brother said that he called the police that day as Daniel was suffering with mental health issues.

When the police came, the footage shows that Daniel complied with the officers' orders to lie down on the road and put his hands behind his back.

According to the footage, he then becomes agitated but does not show any physical resistance. After telling police that he was infected with COVID-19, they put the "spit hood" on him.

Critics have opposed the use of "spit hoods" as it can make it harder for police to notice if a detainee is having trouble breathing. After a while, Daniel stops moving and goes quiet, one officer notes that Daniel felt "pretty cold".

Efforts were made by medics to revive him but they were not successful, he was taken off life support a week later.

Daniel died two months before George Floyd died in Minnesota. George was a black man who died after a while policeman knelt on his neck for nearly 8 minutes which sparked anti-racism protests across the globe.

The New York state attorney general said that there would be an investigation into Daniel's death but the officers in the incident have not been suspended.

A post-mortem report seen by the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper based in Rochester showed that Daniel's death was a homicide by "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint".