Officers surged toward demonstrators, firing a chemical irritant, without clear reason.
Police in Rochester, New York fired pepper bullets and pushed back demonstrators with riot shields Thursday night amid protests demanding justice for Daniel Prude, a Black man killed by asphyxiation when officers put a “spit hood” over his head in March of this year after responding to a call that he was having a mental health emergency. “This was one of the more violent things I’ve seen in my years in journalism,” Zach D. Roberts, a photojournalist who covered the protests live, tweeted late Thursday. Protesters took to the streets in the city following the release Wednesday of video footage showing police putting the spit hood over Prude’s head and pinning his naked body to the ground when they responded to the call earlier this year. Seven police officers involved in the incident were suspended with pay Thursday, following outrage and news coverage of the footage. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the officers’ suspension during a news conference, saying she took the action “against the advice of counsel,” noting the police union could respond by suing the city.
