A grand jury has declined to press charges against the police officers involved in last year’s death of Daniel Prude.
Making the announcement late Tuesday afternoon, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her officer presented “the strongest case possible” to the grand jury, which nonetheless opted against charging any of the officers involved in Prude’s death. “While I know that the Prude family, the Rochester community, and communities across the country will rightfully be devastated and disappointed, we have to respect this decision,” James said.

Prude, a 41-year-old Black man, died in March 2020 after Rochester police put a “spit hood” over his head while he was suffering from a mental health episode. Video shows an officer pressing Prude’s head into the ground until Prude becomes unresponsive. He died a week later from complications of asphyxia, the coroner ruled.
Is the grand jury’s decision going to spark more protests? How could jurors have determined the officer who pushed Prude’s head into the ground isn’t responsible?