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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>&#8216;The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr Prude&#8217;s death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for. &#8216; ;&#8211; Rochester Police chief La&#8217;Ron Singletary</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>The Rochester police chief and his entire senior staff resigned Tuesday amid the fallout of Daniel Prude&#8217;s death in police custody</strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>Rochester Police chief La&#8217;Ron Singletary, his Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and Chief of Administration Mark L. Simmons are among top cops who have retired </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>Mayor Lovely Warren made the shock announcement on Tuesday and said the mass departure could include other senior commanders as well </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>It comes amid criticism of the city&#8217;s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old black man, on March 23 </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>Prude&#8217;s death sparked outrage and nightly protests after his relatives last week released police body camera video of the encounter </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>It showed officers putting a hood over his head to stop him from spitting and then holding him down for about two minutes until he stopped breathing </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>Singletary has defended his actions and says &#8216;events over past week are attempt to destroy my character and integrity&#8217; </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#3f3334"><strong>Announcing the suspension of the cops involved last week, Mayor Warren accused police of being less than honest in their report, while urging NY Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the matter</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LaRon-Singleterry-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354231"/><figcaption><strong>Rochester Police chief La&#8217;Ron Singletary [photo], and his deputy are among the brass who have retired ;amid criticism of the city&#8217;s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, six months ago. The mayor last week accused police of being less than honest in their report, urging Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the matter</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Police brass in Rochester, New York&#8217;s third-largest city this week retired en masse amid criticism of the city&#8217;s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude in March.<br>Mayor Lovely Warren of Rochester, upstate New York Tuesday announced that the leadership of the police department are retiring en masse.<br>Rochester Police chief La&#8217;Ron Singletary, Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and Chief of Administration Mark L. Simmons are among those who chose to retire ;amid criticism of the city&#8217;s handling of the suffocation death of the 41-year-old black man on March 23.</p>



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b4DEFRFoqoU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>



<p class="has-text-color has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#613838"><strong>Warning: Graphic Contents</strong><br><strong> Disturbing video shows Daniel Prude, a black man suffocate during arrest. The 41-year-old died several days after an encounter with police on March 23. </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The shock resignations were announced by ;Mayor Warren ;at a virtual city council briefing on Tuesday. ;Council members had been expecting the chief to appear in person to discuss ongoing protests over Prude&#8217;s death.<br>Singletary has been facing calls to resign ever since details emerged last week of Prude&#8217;s death several days after his encounter with police on March 23. ;  ; ;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LaRon-Singletary-left-and-Joseph-M.-Morabito-right-1.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is LaRon-Singletary-left-and-Joseph-M.-Morabito-right-1.jpg" width="610" height="446"/><figcaption><strong>Rochester Police Dept&#8217;s Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito, [right], and Chief of Administration Mark L. Simmons [left], have also retired</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rochester, a city of 200,000 people on Lake Ontario, erupted with protests last week after the Prude family released body camera footage from the arrest.<br>It showed ;police putting a hood over the 41-year-old black man&#8217;s head and pinning him to the pavement to restrain him. ; ; ;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Daniel-Prude-being-killed-bypolice-1-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354250"/><figcaption><strong>Rochester police officers who found Daniel Prude running naked down the street, put a hood over his head to stop him from spitting, then held him down for nearly three minutes until he stopped breathing</strong></figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Daniel-Prude-being-killed-bypolice-2.jpg?w=620&;ssl=1" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Daniel-Prude-being-killed-bypolice-2.jpg"/><figcaption><strong>Footage shows when Daniel Prude [seen without his top], suddenly falls silent and still, having lost consciousness under the pile of cops</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The police chief, who as recently as Sunday said he planned to stay on, said in a statement that event over the past week were an attempt to destroy his &#8216;character and integrity&#8217;. ;<br>&#8216;As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character,&#8217; he said. ; ;<br>&#8216;The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for. ;<br>&#8216;The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr Prude&#8217;s death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for. &#8216; ;<br>Singletary who was appointed chief in April 2019, said he looks forward to &#8216;continuing to serve our community in my next chapter.&#8217; ; ;<br>There have been nightly protests ever since details of Prude&#8217;s death emerged last week. ;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Lovely-Warren-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354248"/><figcaption><strong>Five days earlier the mayor Lovely Warren announced that the police officers involved in the arrest and asphyxiation death of Daniel Prude, a Black man, have been suspended after video of the March incident was released</strong></figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Leticia-James-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354017" width="570" height="680"/><figcaption><strong>New York Attorney General, Letitia James [photo], has announced that her office is investigating police conduct in the death of Daniel Prude</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Officers who found Prude running naked down the street had put a hood over his head to stop him from spitting, then held him down for about two minutes until he stopped breathing. ; ; ;<br>He died a week later after he was taken off life support. ;<br>His brother, Joe Prude, had called 911 seeking help for Daniel Prude´s unusual behavior. He had been taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation earlier that night but was released after a few hours, his brother told officers. ;<br>The outrage over his death started after his relatives released the bodycam footage and written reports they obtained through a public records request.<br>Seven police officers were suspended a day later and state Attorney General Letitia James said on Saturday that she would form a grand jury and conduct an &#8216;exhaustive investigation&#8217; into Prude&#8217;s death.<br></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Daniel-Prude-7.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Daniel-Prude-7.jpg"/><figcaption><strong>There have been nightly protests in Rochester since last week when details of Prude&#8217;s death went viral. The recordings were released by his relatives </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Police union officials have said the officers were following their training.<br>The release of the footage five months after Prude&#8217;s death had raised questions of a cover-up and turned Rochester into the latest flashpoint in a summer of protests over racial injustice first sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd. ;<br>Warren said she didn&#8217;t know when the retirements would take effect. ; ;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Rochester-City-Council-meet-over-Daniel-Prude-killing-and-police-handling-of-the-incident-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354238"/><figcaption><strong>Shake up: Mayor Lovely Warren announced Tuesday, <strong>at a City Council briefing held online [photo]</strong></strong>, <strong>that the mass departure Rochester police brass could expand to include other senior commanders as well</strong></figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Protesters-march-for-Daniel-Prude-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354226"/><figcaption><strong>Release of the recording of Prude&#8217;s death in police custody sparked protest marches, continuing for the sixth consecutive night</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mayor Lovely Warren said on Tuesday that the mass departure could include other senior commanders as well. Warren made the surprise announcement of the retirements at a City Council briefing held online.<br>It was unclear who would be in charge of police on Tuesday night if demonstrators come out for a sixth straight night, as expected. ;<br>&#8216;If that retirement is effective immediately, then we will have to find an interim chief,&#8217; Warren said. ;<br>&#8216;I do know that it is going to be difficult to do that.&#8217; ;<br></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Police-in-riotgear-confront-protesters-in-Rochester-NY-Sept.-2020.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354240"/><figcaption><strong>Rochester police officers in anti-riot gear march towards demonstrators on Saturday night</strong></figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Protests-for-Daniel-Prude-in-Rochester-NY-Sept-2020.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-354241"/><figcaption><strong>Demonstrators in Rochester deploy umbrellas as shields from teargas and pepper balls on Saturday night</strong>.<strong> Despite the police resignations they have vowed to continue with the protests until their demands including the mayor&#8217;s resignation and defunding of police have been met</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Demonstrators have been calling for the resignations of both Chief Singletary and Mayor Warren, who are both black. ;<br>For Iman Abid, of the Free the People ROC &#8211; the group behind the nightly protests, said the mass retirements from the police department was &#8216;great news&#8217;.<br>&#8216;It says to the people that people are able to move things and to shape things. The police chief wouldn&#8217;t retire if it weren&#8217;t for something that he felt he was accountable to,&#8217; she said. ;<br>The group however, intend to continue with nightly protests with further demands for the resignation mayor Warren, defunding and demilitarizing of police, and development of a state law barring police departments from responding to mental health crises, Abid said. ;</p>

Rochester police chief, ALL senior staff resign amid fallout over Daniel Prude’s death in police custody – Chief La’Ron Singletary said ‘events over past week are attempt to destroy my character and integrity’
