Anti-Racism Rally Held outside Rochester Police Building (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Anti-racism demonstrations were held in Rochester, US state of New York, in response to several black Americans who have died in police custody, with the recently shared footage of the death of Daniel Prude in March sparking the new wave of outrage.
Protests continue over the killing of Prude, a 41-year-old African American man who died by asphyxiation during a police intervention on March 23.
Sunday's demonstration came hours after Mayor Lovely Warren and the city's police chief La'Ron Singletary called for calm following contentious protests on Saturday.
In a new tack, police on Sunday night allowed protesters to march up to the Public Safety Building (PSB), home to the Rochester Police Department, after previously barricading demonstrators about a quarter mile up the road, where clashes ensued between protesters and police.
Police body camera footage of the arrest was released on Wednesday. Prude was having a mental health episode on March 23 when his brother Joe called the Rochester Police Department for help. Prude died on March 30 after he was taken off life support.
Seven police officers have been suspended in relation to the incident on Thursday.
A grand jury will be called to investigate Prude's death, according to New York's attorney general.
