Protesters say Strong Memorial Hospital also culpable in Daniel Prude’s death

by: WROC Staff

Posted: Sep 28, 2020 / 06:29 AM EDT / Updated: Sep 28, 2020 / 10:26 AM EDT

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — On Sunday, protesters gathered outside of Strong Memorial Hospital to demand justice for Daniel Prude.

“We know all of these systems worked together and failed Daniel Prude. We need to hold them all accountable,” an organizer at the protest said.

Organizers said the hospital system needs to answer for its treatment of Prude.

He was sent to the hospital around 7:30 p.m. and was released around 11 p.m. on the night of his encounter with Rochester police.

Happening now: This protest in front of Strong Memorial Hospital. Protesters say URMC needs to be held accountable for Daniel Prude’s death. @News_8 pic.twitter.com/AP2RSpLSeM
— Jack Watson (@JackWatsonTV) September 27, 2020

“We know that we’ve already reached out to administrators at the U of R and at Strong hospital to set up a meeting. We want to know what happened. How did a system that works for other folks, fail Daniel Prude?” Free the People Roc organizer Ashley Gannt said.

Organizers of the protest said they want to sit with administrators of the hospital to go over why Prude was release. Strong said it is conducting an investigation of its own and that due to privacy laws it cannot release any more information.

Free the People ROC, organizers of many demonstrations over the past month, said it plans to release demands for Strong this week.

Prude, a 41-year-old Black man from Chicago, died after an encounter with Rochester police back in March, but news of the incident just came to light on September 2.

The autopsy report from the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Prude a homicide. The report says Prude’s cause of death includes “complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint.” The report also showed that Prude also had a small amount of PCP in his system at the time of his death, which could explain his erratic behavior.

Less than one week Prude’s death became public, Police Chief Singletary announced his retirement — along with several other members of RPD’s command staff. The following week, Mayor Lovely Warren fired Singletary before his effective retirement date, and named Mark Simmons the interim Chief of Police.