NO ONE CALLED 9-1-1 FOR ROBERT BROOKS, PVT AMBULANCE CO REFUSES TO REVEAL TIMES
THE NIGHT HE WAS BEATEN AND CHOKED BY A PRISON GUARD BEAT-UP SQUAD AT THE MARCY CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, A PRIVATE AMBULANCE TOOK THE MORTALLY INJURED BROOKS TO WYNN HOSPITAL IN UTICA.
EXCLUSIVE
Dec. 31, 2024
No one at the Marcy Correctional Facility called 9-1-1 for Robert Brooks the night he was killed by a beat-up squad of prison guards.
Instead of dialing 9-1-1, officials at the prison dialed the number of a private ambulance service under contract with the state prison system to transport prisoners, according to a local emergency services official with knowledge of the practice.
The local volunteer ambulance group, the Stittville Volunteer Fire Department, does not service the prison.
Kunkel Ambulance services Marcy, according to the local official.
Brooks was transported by a Kunkel ambulance to Wynn hospital in Utica, where he was pronounced dead.
Kunkel confirmed it provides ambulance transport services to Marcy. A company representative, when reached by telephone on Monday, did not dispute Kunkel transported Brooks. Neither did the press offices of Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, when asked to comment.
Kunkel, however, refused to supply The Free Lance with the time prison officials at Marcy asked for an ambulance to be sent, the time it arrived at Marcy, the time it left and the time it arrived at Wynn hospital in downtown Utica—a 10 minute drive away.
Because Kunkel is a private company, it is not bound by New York's Freedom of Information Law as public and volunteer ambulance services are.
Even if it was, a request for an ambulance run time might be denied, depending on where you are in New York. The FDNY provides ambulance run times to credentialed members of the news media upon request.
The Free Lance asked the Oneida County clerk, where Marcy and Utica are located, for the ambulance run times logged by the county’s Emergency Services office but the county clerk claimed it didn't have to disclose any 9-1-1 information at all.
The Free Lance is appealing the decision.
Brooks, a 43-year-old Black-American, was beaten and choked to death by an all-white gang of guards at Marcy, video made public on Friday by the Attorney General shows. Police say preliminary findings by the Onondaga County Medical Examiner confirm Brooks' death was caused by "asphyxia due to compression of the neck."
The Brooks video is worse than the videos that captured George Floyd and Eric Garner being killed by police. Both Garner's 2014 killing and Floyd's 2020 killing were transformative events in the Black Lives Matter movement.
In response to Black Lives Matter criticism, some law enforcement officials formed the Blue Lives Matter movement.
Sgt. Glenn Trombly was the alleged leader of the beat-up squad at Marcy that killed Brooks, The Free Lance exclusively reported last Thursday. C.O. Anthony Farina was another alleged member of the Marcy beat-up squad, and was beside Trombly the night the squad killed Brooks, the video released by the Attorney General on Friday shows.
James, the Attorney General, is in charge of the criminal investigation into Brooks' killing. To date, no one has been charged.
On Dec. 21, Gov. Hochul announced she'd ordered the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to fire Trombly, 11 Correction Officers and a nurse. The 13 are suspended without pay while the firing process plays out. A twelfth officer, Farina, resigned.
Gov. Hochul visited Marcy on Monday. She said she "stood in the room where Robert Brooks was killed" and it made her “heartbroken” and “sickened.”
The governor installed a new superintendent and said she was "implementing a number of new policies" across the state's entire prison system. These include $400 million worth of new cameras to cover every state prison in New York, more misconduct investigators and $2 million for prison watch-dog Correctional Association of New York.
“Mr. Brooks and his family did not deserve this," Hochul said. "The system failed Mr. Brooks and I will not be satisfied until there has been significant culture change.“
For tips or corrections, The Free Lance can be reached at jasonbnicholas@gmail.com or, if you prefer, thefreelancenews@proton.me