ROCHESTER

"I am horrified at the racist and demeaning references and language used to describe children," the district superintendent said.

"The staff members have been put on leave and the District will use all forms of available discipline up to and including termination."

Americans almost drove Canada geese to extinction; now they are so numerous, they’re a nuisance. What do we do next?

Brittanee Drexel’s remains were found and details of the investigation are finally released.

The Rochester teacher is accused of making Black students pick seeds out of cotton and handcuffing them during a seventh-grade class.

Rochester school officials are investigating allegations that a white teacher told his class of mostly Black students to pick seeds out of cotton and put on handcuffs during lessons on slavery in a seventh-grade social studies class.

Employee votes have tipped in favor of unionizing at 13 of 14 Starbucks elections held so far, according to Starbucks Workers United, the SEIU-affiliated union working to organize Starbucks workers.

A new study finds that people who live with handgun owners in the U.S. are shot to death at a higher rate than people who live in homes without such firearms.

Shipping, transportation, and even lawn care and mobile dog grooming services are getting more expensive.

A man once dubbed “King Perry” was sentenced Thursday to more than 17 years in prison for his role in masterminding a long-running investment scam that collected more than $115 million from 1,000 investors nationwide. Perry Santillo appeared in federal court in Rochester, New York, more than two years after pleading guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy. Santillo and his alleged conspirators in the Ponzi scheme coaxed clients to cash in their retirement accounts and invest in sham companies under their control, using the money from newer investors to repay earlier investors, according to court documents.

As omicron rages and more people find themselves quarantining, these ideas from lifestyle pros will help you pass the time while you are stuck at home.

The girl was left in the van for about seven hours and two workers were fired as a result, according to the owner.

The announcement came the day after the deadline they were given. They can return, but only if they get vaccinated. They make up about 1% of the Mayo Clinic's workforce.

Readers respond to our September 2021 issue and more.

The George Floyd bust was on display in New York City’s Union Square for just two days before a vandal splattered paint as he skateboarded away. Volunteers immediately helped clean it up.

"This is something we've been asking for for a very long time," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center.

Cabbage Patch Kids touched off the first big holiday toy craze nearly 40 years ago.

Thousands died in the war in Afghanistan that followed, from every state in the union.

Igor Vovkovinskiy, the tallest man in the United States, has died in Minnesota.

America's tallest man dies.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges stemming from a police raid that allegedly turned up a rifle and pistol, and her 10-year-old daughter alone, in the home she shares with her husband. A grand jury indicted Warren and her husband Timothy Granison last week on a felony count of criminal possession of a firearm, as well as misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and having unsecured guns in a home. Warren's attorney, Joseph Damelio, said the mayor didn't know about the guns and that he was eager to review the prosecution's evidence.

The Monroe County District Attorney alleged their 10-year-old child was left home alone with an unsecured firearm.

The move means New York can bolster its law enforcement presence and take a variety of steps to curb the growth this summer in gun violence.

Assuming India Walton is elected, Buffalo would become the largest American city to have a socialist mayor since Milwaukee in 1960.

Jun. 14—A Rochester woman is out more than $2,500 after she fell prey to an Amazon scam. Rochester police received the report on Saturday, June 12, from a 72-year-old Rochester woman. The woman reported that the day before she received a text message saying it was from Amazon and alerting her that a $2,758.88 purchase had been made on her account. The text gave her a number to call if she had ...

A large splash can be seen when the ambulance hits the water. The suspect was able to escape the vehicle and was taken into custody.

EXCLUSIVE: “While I am very glad to be alive I know many have never made it out alive,” John Sims tells theGrio. A Black artist in Columbia, South Carolina was held at gunpoint, handcuffed and detained by police officers who thought he was an intruder in his own apartment and art gallery. Artist and activist John Sims — a Detroit native and Sarasota, Florida resident whose work explores the Confederate flag and other symbols of white supremacy — is an artist-in-residence at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) in Columbia, next to the University of South Carolina.

Luna Reyes, 20, was filmed embracing and physically calming a sobbing migrant who had swam from Morocco to Spain's North African enclave Ceuta.

NEW YORK — Her voice heavy with emotion, Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, stepped onto a church dais in Rochester in February to announce that a grand jury had declined to indict the police officers who were involved in the death of a Black man in their custody. “I’m disappointed — extremely disappointed,” James said. Her office had presented the jurors with what she called an extensive investigation into the death of the man, Daniel Prude, whom the police pinned facedown on the pavement until he lost consciousness. “We sought a different outcome than the one the grand jury handed us today,” James said. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times But transcripts of the grand jury proceedings, released publicly by a judge last month at James’ request, tell a more complicated story. Grand jury proceedings almost always remain secret, and the transcripts of the inquiry into Prude’s death provide a rare view into the inner workings of the criminal justice system at a pivotal moment in the continuing national debate over police accountability. In a grand jury proceeding, prosecutors typically present a one-sided case in hopes of securing a criminal indictment. But during the inquiry into Prude’s death, lawyers from James’ office chose to present both sides of the case, effectively acting as prosecution and defense and telling the grand jury upfront that its purpose was to investigate the facts, not necessarily to indict. Some of the witnesses who were called by prosecutors appeared to absolve the officers of wrongdoing. The revelation prompted fierce criticism of James specifically and anger more broadly over a legal process that often seems to shield the police from criminal consequences. The transcripts underscore the crucial role that grand juries play in deciding whether police officers are charged — or more often, not charged — for encounters that turn deadly. The transcripts also illuminate the particular challenges of prosecuting officers, even for a law enforcement official like James, who campaigned on criminal justice reform and sued the New York Police Department this year over its handling of protests touched off by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Only prosecutors may call witnesses during grand jury hearings, and jurors never hear from the defense. In the case involving Prude’s death, prosecutors from James’ office called police trainers who testified that the officers who restrained him did not violate protocol with their techniques. The state's lawyers also presented a California doctor who is known for defending police actions. He said the officers had not caused Prude’s death. Another expert witness, a professor from South Carolina, testified that the police had used unreasonable force by failing to roll Prude onto his back after he stopped resisting. The prosecutors also questioned two officers who were facing potential indictment, asking why they had resorted to hands-on restraint instead of trying to de-escalate the situation or show more compassion. At least one juror struggled to reconcile the contradictory testimony. “It seemed like one expert had an opinion that there was no improper anything done,” said a juror whose name was redacted from the transcript. “And then, another expert had an opinion that there was some — something that was not quite properly done, am I correct?” Prosecutors told the juror it was the jury’s job to decide whom to believe. The release of the transcripts just days before Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis officer, was convicted of murder in Floyd’s killing reignited outrage in Rochester, where the revelations surrounding Prude’s death touched off fiery protests last year. Citing the transcripts, some community leaders accused James’ office of deliberately presenting a weak case. James said in an interview that the investigation was an earnest effort to let the jury reach an independent conclusion. “It was really critically important that the grand jury engage in an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis of the facts,” she said, adding that the outcome was a result of laws that give police officers broad protections to use deadly force on the job. “These are incredibly tough cases to investigate and prosecute, but ultimately I respect the grand jury’s decision,” James said. “All of us continue to be disappointed by the criminal justice system as a whole.” On Friday, James proposed legislation that she said would strengthen police accountability. The proposal includes allowing officers to use force only as a last resort and establishing criminal penalties for officers who violate the guidelines. Prosecutors in cases where there may be a strong defense, particularly those that involve potential police misconduct, can present all sides to a grand jury; doing so can indicate how trial jurors may react to evidence. Whether James’ prosecutors presented the strongest case they could is difficult to determine, said Geoffrey Alpert, the expert from South Carolina who testified before the Rochester grand jury. “If the purpose of the grand jury is to get an indictment, then no, they could have called different witnesses,” Alpert said in an interview. “If the purpose of the grand jury was to give jurors several different perspectives, then they did.” But Michael Schiano, a lawyer for one of the officers, said that to him, it was as if the prosecutors put on a case for the defense. “Prosecutors put on the case that we would have put on anyway,” Schiano said. “They put on the witnesses we would have put on if there was a jury trial.” The transcripts show that two of the three Rochester officers who were facing potential indictment testified before the grand jury. Although the targets of investigations rarely testify, legal experts said it is more common in cases involving the police, particularly where an officer is claiming to have acted in self-defense. The officers testified that they decided to use force after Prude did not follow their instructions to stay on the ground. “We told him to calm down, and he’s telling us he wants to take our firearms,” one of the officers, whose name is redacted in the transcripts, said. “And then we tell him to stay down and he still tries to get up.” Prude encountered the Rochester police March 23, 2020, shortly after he became emotionally unstable and sprinted out of his brother’s home. Fearful for Prude’s safety, his brother called 911. Responding officers found Prude several blocks away. He was naked and spitting and claiming that he had the coronavirus. They put a mesh hood, or spit sock, over his head and handcuffed him, then pressed his head to the pavement until he lost consciousness. Although it was snowing, no one covered his body or helped him when he vomited, body camera footage shows. Prude died a week later. The medical examiner determined that his death was caused by factors that included oxygen deprivation and PCP drug intoxication. Body camera footage showed Prude becoming more agitated after the officers placed the hood over his head. The officers said they feared contracting the coronavirus. Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former high-ranking official in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, defended James, saying the attorney general was constrained in her ability to prosecute the Rochester officers because of the broad legal protections provided to the police. “Until that law changes, this will keep happening over and over again,” Friedman Agnifilo said. Prosecutors in Minnesota did not have to rely on a grand jury to charge Chauvin. Their counterparts in about half of all states, including New York, can only bring felony charges after convincing grand jurors that there is probable cause that crime was committed, a fairly routine exercise. When the defendant is a police officer, the outcome is less certain. About 1,000 people a year in the United States die in encounters with law enforcement, but few officers are ever charged with murder or manslaughter for deaths in the line of duty. Of those that are, only one-third are convicted. Six years ago, after a Staten Island grand jury failed to indict the officer involved in the death of Eric Garner, an unarmed Black man who was placed in a police chokehold, Gov. Andrew Cuomo established a special unit in the attorney general’s office to prosecute such cases. The idea was to remove such prosecutions from local district attorneys, who often work closely with the police. But in the 43 investigations that unit has investigated since then, only three officers have been charged, according to the attorney general’s office. About one-quarter of the investigations remain active. Prude’s family did not see how he died until the summer. The video became public in September after their lawyers demanded that city officials release the body camera footage. Revelations of an apparent cover-up led to the firing of Rochester’s police chief and the suspension of the seven officers involved. James brought the case before a grand jury shortly after that. The transcripts revealed James’ selection of an important expert witness: Gary Vilke, a San Diego doctor who is typically hired by the police to defend them. (All witnesses’ names were redacted in the transcript, but some were easily identifiable.) Vilke testified that the weight of the officers pressing on Prude’s back and legs did not impair his breathing, the transcript showed, leading him to conclude that the officers had not contributed to Prude’s death. In an interview last month with a local Minneapolis television station, Vilke said it was “doubtful” that Chauvin had caused Floyd’s death. Peter Neufeld, a civil rights lawyer who has sued police officers, said it was “incomprehensible” that prosecutors chose Vilke, whom he described as a reliable defender of police. “You’re unfairly undermining your case before you get started,” Neufeld said. Vilke did not respond to multiple requests for comment. James said that Vilke had offered his expert opinion and did not tell the grand jury how to vote. She added, however, that his comments about Chauvin, which came after the case involving Prude concluded, were troubling and would “factor into any selection moving forward.” After the grand jury decided not to charge the Rochester officers with homicide, James met privately with local Black faith leaders. The Rev. Myra Brown, pastor of Spiritus Christi Church, said she confronted James there about her office’s failure to obtain an indictment. James said it was her office’s ethical obligation to lay out all the facts, Brown said. To people like Brown, James’ words of extreme disappointment ring hollow now. “Clearly she wasn’t disappointed enough to send in any real scholarship presenting an airtight case to at least get us an indictment,” Brown said, “and at least get the Prude family their day in court.” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Navajo Nation already had its own police academy, universities, bar association and court system, plus a new Washington office near the embassies of other sovereign nations. And during the coronavirus pandemic the Diné, as many prefer to call themselves, gained an important distinction: the most populous tribal nation in the United States. A rush to secure federal hardship benefits increased the Navajo Nation’s official enrollment to 399,494 from 306,268 last year, according to the Navajo Office of Vital Records and Identification. That jump was enough for the Diné to eclipse the Cherokee Nation, which has an enrollment of about 392,000. The tribe’s growth, which came while it was enduring some of the nation’s most harrowing virus outbreaks, could affect the disbursement of future federal aid as well as political representation in the Southwest. The Navajo Nation reservation, which is larger than West Virginia, spreads over about 27,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times “This is the brighter side to a really bad time in the pandemic when we watched so many people go,” said Traci Morris, executive director of Arizona State University’s American Indian Policy Institute. Morris, a member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, said that while several tribes saw their enrollment increase during the pandemic, the 30% spike in the Navajo Nation was particularly notable. The Cherokee Nation, which normally sees about 1,200 applications for enrollment each month, has seen an increase to about 1,400 a month since the middle of last year, said a spokeswoman for the tribe. Official tribal enrollment can often be lower than a tribe’s actual population because of factors including migration from reservations to urban areas and the different policies that the 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States have for determining membership. Some tribes, like the Diné, have relatively more stringent requirements than others that have loosened such rules. Over the past year, thousands of Diné scrambled to update their enrollment information or to enroll officially for the first time to receive payments the tribe was directly distributing from its share of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Those payments of up to about $1,350 per adult helped many Diné weather a protracted period of economic instability while Navajo leaders put into place some of the country’s most aggressive virus mitigation tactics, including curfews and checkpoints. The Navajo Nation has also outpaced much of the rest of the country in vaccinating its population; nearly 90% of those on the reservation who are eligible have received at least one shot. At the same time, at least 1,297 citizens of the Navajo Nation have died from the virus. Residents have been particularly vulnerable because of a high prevalence of diseases like diabetes, the scarcity of running water for washing hands, and homes with several generations living under the same roof. Although Navajo enrollment numbers climbed during the health crisis, some experts think the official statistics undercount the actual Diné population. The Census Bureau has not announced how large it considers the Navajo Nation based on data collected during the 2020 census. Wendy Greyeyes, an assistant professor of Native American studies at the University of New Mexico, noted that most Diné live off the reservation, away from the offices that keep up with enrollment figures, and that the Navajo Nation maintains stricter citizenship requirements than many other tribes. The Navajo Nation requires members to be at least one-quarter Diné, in contrast to tribes like the Cherokee that forgo a specific blood quantum requirement in favor of largely basing citizenship on having Cherokee ancestry. “Living in Albuquerque, I’ve met so many members who don’t qualify for the minimum enrollment, or they may be enrolled in another tribe and cannot double enroll,” said Greyeyes, who is from Kayenta, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation reservation. Greyeyes, who assisted people wanting to enroll in the tribe in recent months, also emphasized that the process can be bureaucratically complicated, potentially keeping some Diné from becoming citizens. “It’s not an easy process,” Greyeyes said. “How do you prove your blood descent? You need to get the paperwork for your parents, the paperwork for everybody.” As the tribe has been growing, so has its political power. Diné politicians have recently made inroads in local races in places like southern Utah, and voter turnout in the Navajo Nation, which leans Democratic, is credited with helping President Joe Biden win Arizona in 2020. The Navajo Nation’s population growth is also a sign that efforts to strengthen self-determination among tribal nations are gaining momentum, building on a shift that began more than five decades ago under the Nixon administration. Previously, in the 1950s and 1960s, the federal government had adopted a policy of dismantling tribal sovereignty and encouraged thousands of Native Americans to leave reservations for American cities. Eric Henson, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and a research fellow with the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, said the Navajo Nation’s growing enrollment stood in sharp contrast to federal policies during the 20th century that were “literally an attempt to get rid of all the tribes.” Henson said of the surging Diné numbers, “This is a really obvious way of saying, ‘Hey, we’re still here.’” This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

When voters in Florida and Georgia want to vote by mail in next year’s races for governor, they will have to make sure they take one more step to ensure they receive a ballot: providing their identification. Just two states had ID requirements in 2020 for voters requesting a mailed ballot. In addition to Florida and Georgia, legislation to require additional identification for mail voting was introduced in Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, according to information compiled by the Voting Rights Lab, which advocates for expanded voter access.

The husband of the mayor of Rochester, New York, was arrested Wednesday after police said they discovered drugs and guns in searches of his car and home, the latest crisis for the mayor in a year continually whipsawed by scandal. Mayor Lovely Warren’s husband, Timothy Granison, 42, was accused of being part of a midlevel cocaine trafficking ring and charged Thursday with drug and gun possession in what prosecutors said was the culmination of a seven-month-long investigation. Six other people were charged in connection to the case, and additional charges are expected, according to the Monroe County district attorney. Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times Warren was not charged with a crime, and prosecutors have not suggested she was a target of the investigation. A lawyer for Granison said Warren had no involvement with anything of which he is accused. But Granison’s arrest, and the discovery of 31 grams of powder in his possession that the police believe is cocaine — as well as a semi-automatic rifle and an unregistered handgun in Warren’s home — threatened to once again upend Warren’s reelection campaign. The episode was the latest in a series of scandals linked to Warren, who is seeking her third term as the mayor of Rochester, a small city just south of Lake Ontario. Last summer, the city was rocked by revelations of an apparent cover-up of the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in police custody, which led to the firing of its police chief and censure of top officials. In the fall, Warren was indicted by county prosecutors on campaign finance charges for financial fraud during her 2017 reelection campaign. She has pleaded not guilty. In an address from City Hall on Thursday, Warren said she was the victim of a vast conspiracy to discredit her just a month before the city’s Democratic primary election. She accused the New York State Board of Elections of manipulating the evidence in its case against her, and suggested that the district attorney was framing her because she was angry the mayor had supported her opponent. And Warren intimated that the timing of Granison’s arrest and next court date — June 21, the day before the primary — had been designed to prevent her reelection. “People will try anything to break me,” Warren said. She described the recent events biblically, as her “Job year,” and denied any involvement in Granison’s troubles; the mayor and her husband had long ago signed a separation agreement, she said, but continued to co-parent their 10-year-old daughter. At a news conference Thursday, Sandra Doorley, the Monroe County district attorney, repudiated Warren’s accusations. “I’m sure there are going to be people out there who think this was politically motivated,” Doorley said. “It was not.” Doorley described Granison as a player in a “narcotics ring,” adding that the investigation was ongoing and more arrests and searches were expected. More than 2 kilograms of crack cocaine and powder, worth about $60,000, as well as more than $100,000 in cash, were recovered across searches of the homes and other property of the seven people arrested. “We believe this whole organization was a midlevel drug organization that was affecting the city of Rochester,” Doorley said at the conference, adding that the quantity of drugs recovered was considered “significant.” Granison has had past run-ins with the law: When he was 17, he pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery after serving as a getaway driver in a jewelry store robbery. He was sentenced to five years' probation. On Thursday, he pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal possession of a firearm, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, and was released on his own recognizance. Doorley said that investigators were also assessing whether the semi-automatic rifle was legal, and said he could face charges related to that weapon if it was not. John L. DeMarco, Granison’s lawyer, said that his client also wanted to stress that his wife had not been involved. “The mayor has played no role in any of this,” DeMarco said. “Other than merely being a resident of the home, there is no involvement.” Officials declined to specify what sparked the initial investigation, but Doorley said that Granison was not one of the original targets. About three months ago, conversations captured on police wiretaps revealed he played a role, she said. Police are seeking to interview Warren but have not yet done so, according to Maj. Barry C. Chase, a troop commander with the state police. Officials declined to comment on whether the mayor was heard on the wiretap. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company

The police action took Warren by surprise and she didn't immediately know what investigators could have been looking for, a spokesman said.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren's husband Timothy Granison has been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and a firearm.

The husband of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was awaiting arraignment on criminal charges Thursday following a police search of the house he shares with the mayor. Timothy Granison, Warren's husband, was to be arraigned in Rochester City Court at 9:30 a.m., a spokesperson for the Monroe County district attorney said.

State police troopers spent several hours searching the home of Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren on Wednesday, saying it was part of a criminal investigation but disclosing no details. Troopers closed off the block around Warren's home with police tape and could be seen taking items from the residence, according to video recordings by journalists at the scene. State Police Maj. Barry Chase said he could release no additional information about the presence of law enforcement at the home.

Stanley Martin wants to rethink Rochester police — a radical new plan to abolish the police gradually. Others also talk about "reimagining" police, though they mean the same word very differently.

“Makes me think of the crypt at Winterfell.”

Robin Cooper, a security guard at a high school in Rochester, New York, sprang into action when she realized a teenager was choking and saved his life.

The grand jury ultimately rejected criminally negligent homicide charges against the three officers, transcripts show.

Newly released transcripts show that prosecutors overseeing a grand jury investigation into the death of Daniel Prude last year in Rochester, New York, undercut the case for criminal charges with testimony from a medical expert who said police officers who held Prude to the ground didn’t do anything wrong.

When a New York-based product lands in Texas, it may evoke memories of those old-school Pace Picante Sauce "get a rope" commercials. While East Coast...

The suit calls the city's use-of-force practices "inhumane, racist, and antithetical to the functioning of a civilized society."

It's been one year since police in Rochester, New York, were called to help Daniel Prude as he was experiencing what his family called a mental health crisis. Joe Prude, Daniel Prude's brother, helped rally people for Tuesday's demonstrations, saying in a video message that the day should be a time of "no school, no work." We join the Prude family in calling for a day of action and remembrance on the one year anniversary of Daniel Prude’s murder by the RPD. Call out of work, walk out of class, and join us in the streets to demand justice for Daniel Prude! Jones' family has said that Jones was suffering from a mental health crisis after recent deaths in the family.

This photo, provided by the Strong National Museum of Play, in Rochester, N.Y., Tuesday, March 16, 2021, shows 12 finalists for 2021 induction into the Video Game Hall of Fame. (Strong National Museum of Play via AP)ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Voting is open for the next inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, with Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and Animal Crossing among the 12 finalists. "These finalists embody what it means to be a good game,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games at The Strong museum, where the hall of fame is housed. The winners are chosen by an international committee of journalists and scholars versed in video games and their role in society. AdThe hall inducted its first class in 2015 with the goal of recognizing electronic games of all types — arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile.

Singletary's characterization "likely impacted" how city officials viewed the matter, the report said. Warren claimed to the public that Singletary initially told her that Prude's death was a "drug overdose," but Friday's report said he never told her that. Lawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude's death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as "segmenting." Prude's death sparked several weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

Singletary's characterization "likely impacted" how city officials viewed the matter, the report said. Warren claimed to the public that Singletary initially told her that Prude's death was a "drug overdose," but Friday's report said he never told her that. Lawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude's death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as "segmenting." Prude's death sparked several weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

The report said Singletary told the mayor the officers restrained Prude, but the chief “consistently deemphasized” the role of restraints in Prude's death, and his statements to officials didn't “capture the disturbing tenor of the entire encounter." AdA lawyer for Singletary said, under a first review of the report, Singletary “was truthful in his statements" to Warren and other city officials. “He never participated in any cover-up nor did he intentionally downplay the circumstances" around Prude's death, Michael Tallon said in a statement. Warren told the public Singletary initially told her Prude’s death was a “drug overdose,” but Friday’s report said he never told her that. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude’s death.

The family claims in the suit in U.S. District Court that both the actions of the Rochester police and an "attempted cover-up" by the department and city government violated Prude's constitutional rights, attorneys for the family said. "Our hearts are broken by his death, but this lawsuit has given us hope for the future." Stephen Schwarz, a lawyer for Prude's children, told CBS News in February there's a different burden of proof in the civil case over the criminal one. The incident went mostly unpublicized until nearly six months later, when police body camera video was released following pressure from Prude's family. On Monday, Schwarz cited a culture in Rochester of "deliberate indifference to the rights of Blacks and Latinos who encounter its police officers."

Simmons suggested that the city deny the request because the case was still under investigation by the state attorney general's office. In an unsent draft of that email, Warren excoriated Singletary for having "grossly underplayed" Prude's death by first describing it to her a drug overdose. "Quite frankly, I would have expected the Chief of Police to have shown me this video in March," Warren wrote in the draft. Prude's death has sparked nearly two weeks of nightly protests and calls for Warren's resignation. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude's death.

Daniel Prude APDisturbing video that surfaced months after Prude's death showed Prude naked on a snowy street, wearing a "spit hood" over his head during his encounter with police. After calling for more grand jury transparency earlier in the day, James said Tuesday night that a judge had approved her request to unseal and publicly release the grand jury minutes related to the investigation of Prude's death. James said the state should review spit hoods and whether they are appropriate in mental health response cases. James said her office will release a comprehensive report about Prude's death including a minute-by-minute account of the encounter with police. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude's death was not in vain."

CORRECTS TO BROTHER NOT UNCLE OF DANIEL PRUDE - FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, brother of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. He always showed me and my brother and sisters how much he loved us," Prude's oldest son, Nathaniel McFarland, said in a statement. The death went mostly unpublicized until nearly six months later, when police body camera video was released following pressure from Prude’s family. Ad“You could hardly find an example of a worse response to a mental health crisis when what happened to Daniel Prude that night,” Piers said during a video news conference with McFarland, who did not speak. He did not immediately respond later in the day after Prude family attorneys outlined their claims in a news conference.

A Rochester police officer has been placed on administrative duty after using pepper spray on the woman, authorities said Friday. Ad“Both incidents involved Black mothers. Both involved Black children. Both involved Black people obviously in crisis. Both involved officers using pepper spray on or around a Black child,” PAB Chair Shani Wilson said during a video news conference Friday.

Grand jury decides no indictments for Rochester officers involved in Daniel Prude's death Protests erupted in Rochester, New York overnight after a grand jury decided not to indict any of the seven officers involved in Daniel Prude's death. Prude died last March after being restrained by police. Jericka Duncan reports.

No charges for Rochester officers in Daniel Prude's death A grand jury decided against charging the officers involved in the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who was restrained by Rochester police last March.

Daniel Prude APDisturbing video that surfaced months after Prude's death showed Prude naked on a snowy street, wearing a "spit hood" over his head during his encounter with police. After calling for more grand jury transparency earlier in the day, James said Tuesday night that a judge had approved her request to unseal and publicly release the grand jury minutes related to the investigation of Prude's death. James said the state should review spit hoods and whether they are appropriate in mental health response cases. James said her office will release a comprehensive report about Prude's death including a minute-by-minute account of the encounter with police. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude's death was not in vain."

FILE - In this Sept. 3, 2020, file photo, Joe Prude, right, uncle of Daniel Prude, and Daniel's nephew Armin, stand with a picture of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. AdLawyers for the seven police officers suspended over Prude’s death have said the officers were strictly following their training that night, employing a restraining technique known as “segmenting.” They claimed Prude’s use of PCP, which caused irrational behavior, was “the root cause” of his death. “The system failed Daniel Prude again," Prude family lawyer Elliot Shields said of the grand jury's decision. Michael Magri, were suspended after Prude’s death became public. "Our actions going forward will ensure that Daniel Prude’s death was not in vain.”AdSome activists said that they never expected the officers to face charges.

An attorney who represents the girl's family told CBS News they're going to be "suing for change." The city suspended police officers seen in an initial video released last month pepper-spraying the distraught and handcuffed child. Thompson told CBS News there isn't a reasonable explanation for pepper-spraying a person after they've been restrained. Governor Andrew Cuomo said the new videos released Thursday were "even more shocking and disturbing" than the video released last month. The harsh treatment of the girl came as Rochester police are under scrutiny for the death of Daniel Prude last spring.

The case has spurred outrage as the latest example of law enforcement mistreatment of Black people, and one that shows even Black children are not exempt. Research shows Black children are often viewed as being older than they are, and are more likely to be seen as threatening or dangerous. Advocates have long said that leads to police treating them in ways they wouldn’t dream of treating white children. A study published in the journal Pediatrics in late 2020 found Black children and teenagers were six times as likely to die from police gunfire as white children. New York isn't the only place where police treatment of Black children has been a flashpoint.

The city of Rochester suspended police officers seen in an initial video released Sunday spraying a chemical irritant in the face of the distraught and handcuffed child. An attorney for the girl's mother could not immediately be reached to comment on whether she saw the new video. It's called pepper spray,” she is told. Andrew Cuomo said the new videos released Thursday were “even more shocking and disturbing” than the video released Sunday. Editor’s Note: You can watch the video released by the Rochester Police Department by clicking here.

Officers caught on video pepper spraying handcuffed 9-year-old girl are on leave Outrage is growing in Rochester, New York, after a 9-year-old girl, who was threatening suicide, was handcuffed and pepper sprayed while in the back of a squad car. The city and the police department are investigating.

Police officers involved in the pepper-spraying of a 9-year-old girl in Rochester, New York, have been suspended, the city announced Monday. "What happened Friday was simply horrible, and has rightly outraged, all of our community," Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said in a statement. The officers were suspended with pay, on the condition that a suspension without pay couldn't last more than 30 days without a concluded internal investigation, CBS affiliate WROC-TV reports. The city did not say how many officers were suspended. The Rochester Police Department said in a statement that officers tried to force the girl into a police vehicle, but she tried to pull away and kicked at the officers.

Rochester, New York police released two body-camera videos of officers restraining the girl. According a local news outlet, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren expressed her concern for the child. (Rochester Police Department via AP)The city of Rochester has suspended police officers seen in body-camera videos spraying a chemical “irritant” in the face of a distraught and handcuffed 9-year-old girl, officials announced Monday. The city did not specify how many officers were suspended. “There is no conceivable justification for the Rochester police to subject a 9-year-old to pepper spray, period," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said Monday.

They are, from left: Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, age 54, from Rochester, NY; Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch, age 39, from Honeoye Falls, NY; and Chief Warrant Officer Two Daniel Prial, age 30, from Rochester, NY. (New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs via AP)MENDON, N.Y. – The three National Guard members killed when a helicopter crashed in an upstate New York field this week were experienced pilots with past deployments to Afghanistan, officials said Friday. Killed in the crash were Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, 54, of Rochester, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch, 39, of Honeoye Falls, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial, 30 of Rochester, according to the National Guard. The crew had been conducting night vision goggle proficiency training in the local training area, the National Guard said. Skoda served in the Army from 1985 to 1987 and joined the National Guard 1987.

This photo, provided by Lollypop Farm shelter, shows one of the 97 cats rescued from a house fire in Perinton, NY, outside Rochester, NY, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Many of the cats suffered smoke inhalation, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester said, and it wasn't clear whether all of them would survive. (Paige Engard/Courtesy Lollypop Farm via AP)PERINTON, N.Y. – Nearly 100 cats have survived a house fire in a town outside Rochester, New York, according to an animal protection group. The Lollypop Farm shelter had been told as many as 70 cats lived in the Perinton home when it caught fire. Many of the cats suffered smoke inhalation, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester said, and it wasn't clear whether all of them would survive.

Her sister Mary Anthony’s headstone, just next to hers, was also covered. A cemetery worker adjusts a plastic cover for the headstone of women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, New York, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. Katie Polfleit, 20, places an "I Voted" sticker on the grave of women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony in Rochester, New York, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Baby Nancy, the first Black baby doll to have an Afro and other authentic features, was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame on Thursday, along with sidewalk chalk and the wooden block game Jenga. By Thanksgiving, Baby Nancy was the bestselling Black doll in Los Angeles, and before Christmas, she was selling nationwide. The toy exposed a long-standing demand for ethnically correct Black dolls, according to the National Toy Hall of Fame, located in The Strong museum in Rochester, New York. Shindana Toys folded amid financial problems in 1983, but Baby Nancy “still stands as a landmark doll that made commercial and cultural breakthoughs,” curator Michelle Parnett-Dwyer said in a news release. The three new inductees will be on permanent display at the National Toy Hall of Fame, alongside previous winners that include Barbie and the Hula Hoop.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to hold Make America Great Again campaign rallies in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Rochester, Minnesota on Friday. The first rally is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and it will be livestreamed in this article. The Rochester rally at 5:45 p.m. will also be livestreamed in this article. The president’s campaign says the Rochester rally will be capped at 250 people at the insistence of state and local officials. The Trump campaign sought to shift the venue to a nearby business but ultimately reversed course and moved ahead with the rally at the airport.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):9:20 p.m.Joe Biden says he has learned from the mistakes that Hillary Clinton's campaign made four years ago in the Midwest. After her stunning loss to Donald Trump in 2016, many Democrats criticized her campaign as overconfident and too complacent. President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden are campaigning hard to win both states, where Trump scored narrow victories in 2016. The campaign announced in addition to his Monday trip to the state, Biden will campaign in Philadelphia on Sunday. The Minnesota Department of Health has linked 28 coronavirus cases to other recent Trump campaign events in the state.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren walks out of city court after her arraignment in Rochester, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 5, 2020. Warren, who has faced calls to resign over her city's handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude at the hands of police, pleaded not guilty Monday to campaign finance charges dating to her 2017 reelection campaign. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who has faced calls to resign over her city’s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude at the hands of police, pleaded not guilty Monday to campaign finance charges dating to her 2017 reelection campaign. “She welcomes the opportunity for the public to see whether the district attorney’s charges hold water,” attorney Joseph Damelio said outside court after the proceeding. Supporters who gathered outside court said they still have faith in Warren.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren was indicted Friday on charges she broke campaign finance rules and committed fraud during her reelection campaign three years ago, adding another layer of crisis in a city that has been reeling over its handling of a police killing. Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley also announced charges against Warren’s campaign treasurer, Albert Jones Jr., and the treasurer of her political action committee, Rosalind Brooks-Harris. The Democrat is midway through her second term as the first female and second Black mayor of Rochester, a city of more than 200,000 by Lake Ontario. Elections officials began fielding complaints about Warren's campaign finances in 2017, when Warren defeated two challengers in a Democratic primary leading to her reelection. “Lovely Warren is still the mayor of the city of Rochester,” she said.

FILE- In this March 23, 2020 image made from police body camera video provided by Roth and Roth LLP, a Rochester police officer puts a hood over the head of Daniel Prude in Rochester, N.Y. After seeing the video, Warren emailed Singletary that she was “outraged” at the conduct of the officer who pressed Prude's head against the ground, Mark Vaughn, and that he should face an immediate disciplinary investigation. In an unsent draft of that email, Warren excoriated Singletary for having “grossly underplayed” Prude's death by first describing it to her a drug overdose. “Quite frankly, I would have expected the Chief of Police to have shown me this video in March,” Warren wrote in the draft. His family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the police department sought to cover up the true nature of Prude’s death.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren fired the police chief and suspended her top lawyer and communications director Monday in the continuing upheaval over the suffocation death of Daniel Prude. “This initial look has shown what so many have suspected, that we have a pervasive problem in the Rochester Police Department,” Warren said. “I have apologized to the Prude family and this community for the failures that happened along the way, including my own,” Warren said. “As mayor, I own these failures.”Roj said he accepted the suspension, but claimed he was not aware of what happened to Prude until Aug. 4. He said Singletary told him in an email of an ongoing criminal investigation and that the mayor was already informed.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Top police leaders in Rochester are retiring en masse amid criticism of the city's handling of the the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, Mayor Lovely Warren said Tuesday. LaRon Singletary, the citys police chief, is among those retiring, as is Deputy Chief Joseph M. Morabito and possibly other senior commanders, Warren said. Warren made the surprise announcement of the retirements at a City Council briefing being held online. Council members had expected the chief to appear in person to discuss ongoing protests over Prude's death. His death sparked outrage after his relatives last week released police body camera video and written reports they obtained through a public records request.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. Naked except for spit hoods in a reference to the killing of Daniel Prude, several protesters sat outside Rochester's police headquarters Monday morning to push for police accountability, local news outlets reported. Seven police officers were suspended Thursday, and state Attorney General Letitia James said Saturday she would form a grand jury and conduct an "exhaustive investigation into Prude's death. Warren and Police Chief LaRon Singletary have faced calls for their resignations over the delay in releasing details of Prudes death. Protesters gathered in a Rochester park Monday evening before moving to the city's Public Safety Building by nightfall, for a sixth consecutive night of demonstrations. On Sunday, police said more than 1,000 protesters marched to the Public Safety Building on a night more peaceful than the rest, with community elders acting as a buffer between officers and protesters.

Warren suspended the seven officers involved in Prude's death last week after his family released police video from the March night when he was restrained on a city street. "The mayor and RPD must stop these warfare tactics now.The marches took place as New York's attorney general announced Saturday that a grand jury would investigate Prude's death. Protesters have called on Warren and Singletary to step down over the delay in releasing details of Prude's death. They've also demanded police accountability and legislation to change how authorities respond to mental health emergencies. But she said the city will double the availability of mental health professionals and work with Rochesters Commission on Racial and Structural Equity, or RASE, to re-envision the police department and how it responds to mental health crises.

Demonstrators march through the streets in Rochester, N.Y., Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, protesting the death of Daniel Prude. Having police respond can be a recipe for disaster, The National Alliance on Mental Illness said in a statement Friday. Prudes death is yet another harrowing tragedy, but a story not unfamiliar to us, the advocacy group said. Activists have marched nightly in the city of 210,000 on Lake Ontario since police body camera videos of the encounter with Prude were released this week by his family. As they had the night before, officers doused activists at police headquarters with a chemical spray to drive them from barricades around the building.

But Prude's death is the second one involving spit hoods to surface since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a national reckoning on racism and policing. Floyd's death did not involve a spit hood. Police handcuffed and placed a spit hood on the head of a naked man also in distress. In another similar episode, a 45-year-old man died in 2015 after police in Bernalillo, New Mexico, placed him in a spit hood, possibly incorrectly. Prison guards have also used spit hoods, sometimes to deadly effect.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren announced the suspensions at a news conference Thursday amid outrage that city officials had previously kept quiet about Prude's death. Journalists were among those hit by pellets during the confrontation, which came on the second day of peaceful demonstrations over Prude's death. The mayor said she only became aware that Prude's death involved the use of force on Aug. 4. Warren said the seven officers would still be paid because of contract rules and that she was taking the action against the advice of attorneys. Prude's death happened just as the coronavirus was raging out of control in New York and received no public attention at the time.

But Prude's death is the second one involving spit hoods to surface since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a national reckoning on racism and policing. Floyd's death did not involve a spit hood. Police handcuffed and placed a spit hood on the head of a naked man also in distress. In another similar episode, a 45-year-old man died in 2015 after police in Bernalillo, New Mexico, placed him in a spit hood, possibly incorrectly. Prison guards have also used spit hoods, sometimes to deadly effect.

Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after the encounter with police in Rochester. Prude had been taken into custody for a mental health evaluation about eight hours before the encounter that led to his death. Calls to the union representing Rochester police officers, and to the organizations attorney, rang unanswered Wednesday. But his brother Joe Prude said he was only at the hospital for a few hours, according to the reports. How did you see him and not directly say, The man is defenseless, buck naked on the ground.

Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after the encounter with police in Rochester. Daniel Prude died March 30 after he was taken off life support, seven days after the encounter with police in Rochester. Then, they put a white “spit hood” over his head, a device intended to protect officers from a detainee's saliva. Another remarks, “He feels pretty cold.”His head had been held down by an officer for just over two minutes, the video shows. Demonstrators later gathered at the spot where Prude died, chanting, dancing and praying.

A new petition circulating social media wants to do away with Super Bowl Sunday and move it to Saturday. According to a petition on Change.org, the creator, Frank Ruggeri, a Rochester, NY resident, says if the Super Bowl were to move to Saturday, it would get more money and attract visitors to the game. Titans, Chiefs on verge of Super Bowl, play for AFC titleThe goal of the petition is to gain 5,000 signatures. However, the halftime performers for the Super Bowl have been announced - Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Dueling Trump, Bloomberg 2020 ads to air during Super BowlIf you’re in favor of changing Super Bowl Sunday to Super Bowl Saturday, you can sign the petition by clicking here.