The FBI Albany Field Office is reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death of Robert Brooks, an inmate at the Marcy Correctional Facility, a state prison in Oneida County, after an assault by correctional officers.
“The FBI Albany Field Office and the Department of Justice are reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of Robert L. Brooks to determine the appropriate federal response,” the FBI said in an emailed statement to The Hill on Saturday.
The bureau added it could not provide further comment as it is an ongoing review.
The statement comes after a video was released by the state’s attorney general, which showed correctional officers at the New York facility on Dec. 9 “repeatedly pummeling a handcuffed inmate, striking him in the chest with a shoe, and lifting him by the neck and dropping him,” according to The Associated Press . Brooks was pronounced dead at a hospital the morning after the assault, the AP reported.
The AP also reported that the state’s attorney general is investigating the officers’ use of force against Brooks.