Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old American, died of suffocation by Rochester police in March 2020. -

Police

More than three months after George Floyd, died of suffocation under the knee of a police officer, America is indignant today for Daniel Prude.

The 41-year-old African-American, who suffered from mental health problems and roamed the streets naked, was killed by police in March in New York State.

Officers placed a bag over his head - to protect himself from his sputum amid the coronavirus pandemic - then pinned him to the ground for two minutes while it was snowing, according to a video posted by his family on Wednesday.

The mayor of Rochester said she was "shocked" and returned the ball to the prosecutor's court.

Who assured that an investigation was underway, without explaining why four months had already passed when the forensic institute concluded, after autopsy, that the death was a homicide, linked to a "consecutive asphyxia to a physical constraint ”.

Dozens of people gathered on Wednesday and Thursday to demonstrate outside the public safety headquarters in Rochester.

More rallies are scheduled in many U.S. cities Thursday evening, as an 18-year-old black man was killed by police in Washington on Wednesday, and an African-American was shot dead in Los Angeles on Monday.

"They are trying to kill me"

The case dates back to March 23.

The police intervene after an emergency call from the victim's brother, worried because Daniel Prude was seized with psychological disorders.

Once there, a police officer finds Daniel Prude lying on the ground in the street, naked, and handcuffed, according to images released Wednesday.

As the 41-year-old makes incoherent comments, a police officer places a canvas bag over his head, which annoys him even more.

This canvas hood is called a "spit hood" and is intended to prevent one of the officers from receiving saliva as the man spits and claims to have the coronavirus, according to one of the officers.

And then, when the temperature is close to zero, the police stop him.

One officer pinches her face to the ground with both hands while another uses her knee to keep her from struggling.

“They are trying to kill me,” he yells.

More than two minutes elapsed.

Snowflakes cover Daniel Prude's naked body.

Help arrives shortly after.

Daniel Prude falls into a coma and dies a week later.

"How many more will have to die?"

"

"It's been four months since the prosecutor's office opened its investigation, but it doesn't take so long to find that the officers involved abused their authority and put an end to Mr. Prude's existence," he said. reacted the director of the local branch of the human rights organization New York Civil Liberties Union, Iman Abid.

"I made a call for my brother to get help, not for him to be lynched," Daniel's brother Joe Prude told a press conference Wednesday.

For him, it is a "cold-blooded murder".

“How many (black) brothers will have to die for society to understand that this has to end?

», He asked.

The city's police chief, La'Ron Singletary, who is black, said there was never any question of "covering up" the incident.

However, he indicated that the officers present during the arrest had not been suspended.

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  • Police violence