NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Corrections officers punched and kicked a handcuffed, shackled inmate in the groin and chest during a fatal attack at a prison in central New York this month, local media reported on Saturday.
The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by four of the officers. It was made public by Letitia James, the state attorney general, as part of her office's investigation into the death of the man, Robert Brooks, and the beating that preceded it, according to The New York Times.
Among other things, the videos showed one corrections officer using a booted foot to kick Brooks, whose face is bloodied, and then force him onto his back on an infirmary examination table while another officer punches Brooks in the upper body.
James said that the eight videos her office released depicted "shocking and disturbing" behavior.
"James's investigation could result in criminal charges for some or all of those implicated in the assault, as could inquiries by the State Police and the corrections department's Office of Special Investigations," noted the report.
Brooks was Black and all the officers in the video appear to be white. James did not mention race in her description of the beating. But in a watchdog report issued last year about the prison, the Marcy Correctional Facility, nearly 70 percent of inmates who were interviewed reported racial bias among staff members.
The videos were released two weeks after the deadly attack and several days after New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was moving to fire the 14 prison workers implicated in the attack. Enditem
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