One year after the killing of Robert Brooks inside a New York prison, his family and community organizers gathered in Albany and New York City to honor his life and urge Governor Hochul to sign an omnibus prison reform bill. Brooks was brutally beaten by correction officers in Marcy Correctional Facility on December 9, 2024. He died the next day. 

Brooks’ death triggered investigations into misuse of force by correction officers and sparked protests demanding reforms of the prison system. The omnibus bill, written as a response to Brooks’ killing, would increase transparency and accountability by requiring “timely disclosure of video footage related to the death of incarcerated individuals to the attorney general’s office of special investigations”, standards regarding the camera coverage of people in prison, access to recordings, and notice of the death of an incarcerated individual in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCSS). The bill passed both the State Assembly and Senate, but awaits Hochul’s signature. 

At the Albany Public Library on Tuesday morning about two dozen community organizers filled the room for a press event. Rosemary Rivera, director of Citizen Action of New York, opened the meeting. “Today is a day that we want to remember all those who should have survived and been able to be liberated to come back to their families and are no longer with us,” she said. 

Rivera announced that the omnibus bill was delivered to Hochul onMonday night. Its passage, she emphasized, should not be controversial. “It’s not radical, it’s not a crazy bill,” she said. “There is no huge opposition to it, it needs to be signed,” she said. 

The killing of Brooks became a symbol of the misuse of force by prison guards after New York Attorney General Letitia James released bodycam footage from the correction officers who beat Robert Brooks to death. James described the footage – which shows Brooks being repeatedly hit by officers while seemingly unresponsive – as “shocking and disturbing”. The DOCCS Commissioner said “seeing that video makes me have to question everything. How do we make sure we’re creating a culture focusing on humanity, dignity, and respect?”. Governor Hochul said that “the system failed Mr. Brooks” and she would “not be satisfied until there has been significant culture change.” 

On November 21, four former correction officers involved in the fatal beatings of Robert Brooks were sentenced to prison on charges of manslaughter. Anthony Farina and Nicholas Anzalone received 22 years; Michael Mashaw was sentenced to three to nine years; and David Walters was sentenced to two and one-third to seven years in prison. Two other former correction officers, David Kingsley and Michael Fisher, have not received their sentence yet, but are facing charges for murder and manslaughter. 

In June, the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus revealed the Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice & Reform. The package consisted of 23 bills centering accountability, justice, safety and rehabilitation. New York Senate and Assembly leaders selected seven of the bills and three other prison reform bills for the omnibus bill, which was passed by both chambers. Most of the provisions in the omnibus legislation focus on increasing oversight and transparency. “The chunk of the omnibus bill would require that all corners of prisons will be recorded,” said Gabriella Romero, New York State Assembly member, at the press conference in Albany. Romero said that as a former public defender, she has learned that a lot of the violence happens in the “dark and unrecorded corners”.

A second vigil was held Tuesday evening at Brooklyn’s Bedford Central Presbyterian Church. On chairs lay white candles and paper hearts with “in loving memory” written on it. Organizers served food as community members trickled in. In the corner stood a poster of Brooks with blue wax lights arranged in the shape of a heart in front of it.

Around hundred people, including community organizers, lawyers, activists, and family members, attended the vigil to remember Brooks’ life and called for the governor to sign the bill.

Brooks’ son, Robert Brooks Jr., had traveled from Rochester to speak. He thanked those who had supported his family through the past year, and described the pain his family went through: the feeling of shock learning that his father was gone and not knowing why. “Watching the nightmare as my father’s final moments unfold on video, then constantly having to relive it over and over in court,” he said. “Criminal court wins give us some belief, but there is so much work that needs to be done, and none of it will bring my father back.”

Brooks Jr. said it helped him to see the attendees, knowing that his family is not fighting this alone. “Today, it’s just not about my father,” he said. “It’s all about all of the fathers, sons, daughters, and mothers living behind the prison walls.” Brooks Jr. said the past year had transformed him. He now wants to go into prisons and help not only the incarcerated individuals, but also the security guards and the correction officers. “So they all can go home to their family and to their loved ones,” he said. 

Brooks Jr. urged Gov. Hochul to sign all bills in their entirety. “No one should have to get that phone call that their loved one has been murdered,” he said. After the speeches, attendees lit their candles. In the dark church, the candles lit up the tears in attendees’ eyes while they sang Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”

 It’s been a long, a long time coming,

but I know; A change gon’ come. Oh yes, it will. 

When the song ended, the crowd called out:

“Robert Brooks!”

“Say his name!”

In a press statement on Tuesday, Hochul said she would not sign the bill as it currently is. The Governor said she is “hopeful the Legislature will agree to some common sense changes to legislation currently on my desk that would allow us to advance reforms together.” She did not attend either vigil.

This story was published with the support of a grant from Columbia University’s Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights, in conjunction with Arnold Ventures.

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