Rochester will use elders to stop unrest: Mayor
"They (church) elders will stand as the buffer between the protesters and our police department," Mayor Warren said.
Rochester, a city of 200,000 people in the northwest corner of the state, erupted with protests this week after the Prude family released body camera footage from the arrest of Daniel Prude in March.
The footage showed a group of officers putting a mesh hood over Prude's head - apparently to prevent his spit from possibly transmitting the novel coronavirus - as he kneels naked and restrained on the street.
The video footage also shows officers forcing Prude's face down on the ground. Prude can be heard shouting, "Take this ... off my face!" and "You're trying to kill me!" in response to the hood. Officers are heard saying "Calm down" and "stop spitting."He died a week later at the hospital.
