Surveillance Didn’t Stop the Killing of Robert Brooks at Marcy Prison

Irina Park

Robert Brooks, a 43-year-old Black man, was fatally beaten by at least three officers at Marcy Correctional Facility, an all-male state prison. Brooks, who was serving a 12-year sentence for assault, died on December 10 after correctional officers punched, kicked, and choked him for over 20 minutes while he was shackled and handcuffed the day prior. 17 staff members have been suspended without pay, including officers who failed to intervene, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS).

In a statement, Governor Kathy Hochul directed DOCCS Commissioner Martuscello to terminate 14 workers involved in Brooks’ attack. Following the release of the body-worn camera videos by Attorney General Letitia James, Hochul called the beating a “senseless killing” and was “outraged and horrified”, calling for a full investigation. On January 2nd, New York Attorney General Letitia James and her office recused itself from the investigation into Robert Brooks’ murder at Marcy Correctional Facility because her office is defending four of the guards in active cases and appointed Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick as a special prosecutor.  

The Marcy Correctional Facility is a medium-security prison and has faced allegations of abuse and racism. The Correctional Associate of New York (CANY) revealed widespread verbal, physical, and sexual abuse with 80% of prisoners reporting misconduct and 67% citing racialized mistreatment, including being denied meals for hairstyles like cornrows. Two lawsuits in 2020 highlight a pattern of violence with at least three of the guards named also being implicated in Brooks’ death. Grievances against staff surged to over 26,819 in 2023, with 3,220 citing staff misconduct. A 2022 Inspector General report confirmed systemic racism, with staff targeting non-white individuals. Violence in New York prisons has almost doubled in the past decade, despite claims of progress by state officials like Kathy Hochul. 

The entire beating was recorded on 8 body-worn cameras equipped by those correction officers involved in Brooks’ murder. DOCCS highlighted to CNN the “broad expansion of their body-worn camera program, including millions of dollars to continue to expand fixed cameras in all facilities.” DOCCS calls the cameras “critical in preserving the evidence of the fatal attack of Mr. Brooks.” 

Surveillance operates as a tool for oppression, control, and punishment, particularly in prisons. The call by DOCCS to increase surveillance by installing more prison cameras in response to the brutal killing of Robert Brooks only masks the problem, concealing the fact that the prison exists to control and repress and that there is no balance between prisoners and guards. More cameras fine tunes oppression and restricts inmates even further. The logic of surveillance and control over all other options extends beyond the prison walls, in policing this means cameras are used to get more convictions, to absolve officers of wrong doings, and when officers are guilty the cameras “malfunction.” The ruling class’s solution to solving all their problems is to increase the repressive ability of the state, which represents their class, at the expense of the working class and poor.  

The result is fattening up the extensive repressive wing of the state, greater militarization, more spending and more effective forms of administering oppression. It has little to do with proving guilt on the part of corrupt officials and official tortures of people—this is clear by the fact that the torture and murder of Robert Brooks was all caught on camera, and that the guilty still enjoy their freedom.  

Photo: Screenshot from bodycam footage showing officers beating and torturing Robert Brooks at Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County, New York on December 9, 2024.

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