Killing of Daniel Prude

On February 23, 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the empaneled grand jury declined to charge the seven officers involved in Prude's death. The same day, the US Attorney's office for the Western District of New York announced they will review the AG report and other evidence, and rule whether a federal response is warranted.

On March 23, 2020, Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old African-American man, died after being physically restrained by Rochester, New York police officers. Prude had been suffering from a mental health episode after ingesting PCP and was walking naked in the city's streets. The officers put a spit hood over his head after he began spitting. They restrained him face-down on the street for two minutes and fifteen seconds, and he stopped breathing. Prude received CPR on the scene and later died of complications from asphyxia after being taken off life support.

The autopsy report ruled Prude's death a homicide and also included the contributing factors to his death as "excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP". The death first received attention in September 2020 when the police body camera video and written reports were released along with the autopsy report. Following the report's release, protesters demonstrated outside the Rochester police headquarters and many considered the death to be related to Prude's race. The demonstrations were connected to the Black Lives Matter movement and the string of racial justice events of 2020.

Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York, said Prude's death was being investigated. Governor Andrew Cuomo said on September 2, 2020, that he had originally asked James to investigate the case in July, and that it had been under investigation "for months" prior to September. Rochester police paused its investigation when the state took up the case in April, as the Attorney General's office investigates deaths of unarmed people in police custody rather than having them handled locally. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said that the city could not be involved in the case until the state investigation finished.

Prude's death originally gained notoriety following a press conference on September 2, 2020, which highlighted the body camera video evidence of his death. It was the first public mentioning of the incident. During the conference, Joe Prude, Daniel's brother, denounced his death as a "coldblooded murder", asking, "How many more brothers got to die for society to understand that this needs to stop?"

The December 10, 2020, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine contained an essay in its Points of View section by David A. Paul, M.D., entitled "The Death of Daniel Prude – Reflections of a Black Neurosurgeon". Dr. Paul, who also lived in Rochester, learned after Prude's death that they had been cousins.

On September 2, 2020, in response to the video footage release and subsequent press conference, protesters demonstrated outside the City Public Safety Building (PSB), the department headquarters. Several protesters were arrested and released with appearance summons for entering the headquarters, several attempting to attend a press conference held by the Mayor.

On September 4, 2020, protests began peacefully but ended with authorities dispersing crowds with tear gas and pepper balls following incidents of vandalism and violence, according to officials. Protesters started at Martin Luther King Jr. Park downtown and arrived to a blockade set up across the Court Street Bridge by police, one block from the Safety Building. Bottles and fireworks were launched at police by protesters. Police slowly pushed the crowd several blocks down Court Street. Rochester police arrested 11 people during the outbreaks of violence, the department said. According to police, three officers were hurt and were hospitalized but later released.

On September 5, 2020, the fourth night of protests over the death of Daniel Prude was the largest yet, and again ended with pepper balls, tear gas and fireworks. Protesters marched from Jefferson Ave to City Hall, and next to Exchange Blvd at Broad Street, to a police roadblock outside of the Blue Cross Arena, north of the Safety Building. Six minutes after arriving, after some threw water bottles, police began dispensing crowds with tear gas, pepper spray, flash bangs and an LRAD. At least one protester launched multiple fireworks at officers from then on that night.

On September 6, 2020, roughly 1,000 people came out to protest on the fifth day, which was the first peaceful night since protests started. Rochester police reported no arrests after demonstrators descended on the city's Public Safety Building, a day after nearby demonstrations resulted in numerous clashes between protesters and police. The police presence that night was noticeably subdued, with fewer visible officers outside of the building, and a relaxed perimeter more similar to that as on September 3. The march also used "elders", namely older, respected community members to stand between the police and protesters, to both prevent and reduce the odds of a clash that night. The demonstration came hours after Mayor Lovely Warren and the city's police chief La'Ron Singletary called for calm following tense protests the previous day.

On September 7, 2020, six naked or partially naked demonstrators sat silently outside of the Public Safety Building that morning. All had their hands behind their backs and wore spit hoods, in a reference to Prude. That night, 600–1000 people demonstrated on the sixth day of protests. Demonstrators started at Martin Luther King Jr. park and again marched to Rochester City Hall, followed by the Public Safety Building. The events were mostly peaceful, although a tense standoff between officers and protesters occurred. The police presence was initially relaxed, but changed after demonstrators became more agitated one hour after arriving at the Safety Building. Some threw bottles at police and started removing the first layer of barricades, after which an unlawful assembly was declared and dozens of officers moved in position to disperse crowds. Police remained in the same position, not forcing crowds back or using any tear gas or pepper spray that night as had previously occurred. The last protesters left without incident around 1 am.

On September 8, 2020, protesters demonstrated for the seventh straight day, which ended peacefully for a third consecutive night. It came hours after Police Chief Singletary and his entire command staff (six other officials) either retired, announced intentions to retire or were demoted to their previously held positions. Protesters started on Jefferson Avenue, walked and demonstrated at the Public Safety Building and later outside of City Hall. Protesters also painted "Black Lives Matter" on Jefferson Ave, "Murderers" on Exchange Boulevard in front of the Safety Building, and "Resign" on Church Street facing City Hall.

On September 9, 2020, two men who allegedly attacked police officers in Rochester during the protest on September 5 were arrested. The Justice Department announced criminal charges against two people for civil disorder during the demonstration four days before.

Protesters again sat naked or partially naked in front of City Hall on September 10, 2020. More than a dozen people were wearing mesh hoods.

Daniel T. Prude (September 20, 1978 – March 30, 2020) arrived in Rochester, New York, from Chicago on March 22, 2020, to visit his older brother, Joe Prude. Daniel acted erratically upon his arrival, jumping headfirst down a flight of stairs. His brother dialed emergency services for help. Daniel received a mental health evaluation at Strong Memorial Hospital and was released that night. Within several hours, Daniel resumed his erratic behavior and fled his brother's house around 3 a.m. His brother called emergency services again for assistance. Prude shed his long underwear, tank top, and socks while on the street. A passerby recorded a Facebook Live video of Prude after he begged someone to call emergency services, but Prude ran away when the person called.