Rochester to pay $12 million to Daniel Prude’s family for death

Source: Joshua Rashaad McFadden / Getty

Here’s the recurring cycle: police officer wrongfully kill a Black person, police officer faces no criminal charges, tax payers pay millions of dollars to on behalf of the city to settle the impending lawsuit. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Daniel Prude was killed by Rochester police officers in March 2020. In the aftermath, police chief LaRon Singletary lied to mayor Lovely Warren about the death saying that Prude died of an overdose. Today, according to NYTimes, the city will pay Prude’s family $12 million. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

Now mayor Malik D. Evans says the settlement is to prevent more anger that is taking “a painful toll on our community.” Under the conditions of the settlement, the city takes no blame for Prude’s death. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Prude was in an erratic state, naked, and unarmed when police responded to a call outside of his brother’s home. He had a hood place over his head and his face pressed into the concrete for 2 minutes. Upon falling unconscious, officers attempted to resuscitate him but he would die later at the hospital. Somehow, none of this is the city’s fault.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Despite her feigned outrage, then-Mayor Warren resigned as did police chief Singletary. The city went on to commission an independent investigation and the author of the report said this:

“Did officials of City government suppress information about the arrest and death of Daniel Prude between March 23, 2020, when the arrest occurred, and Sept. 2, 2020, when the Prude family publicly released body-worn camera footage of the incident?” the report’s authors wrote. “The straightforward answer is yes.”

When will the wash, rinse, repeat end? When will all cops start going to prison for the blood on their hands? When will police departments stop trying to save these pigs from the consequences of their actions? Probably never.