Specifically, video shows that sometime after his transport van arrived at Marcy, Robert was on the ground outside of a Marcy building with his hands handcuffed behind his back, while surrounded by Defendants Kieffer, Mashaw, Kessler and Kinglsey. According to the civil complaint:
“After Defendants Trombly and Farina approached the group, two of the Defendants lifted Robert off the ground and began moving him toward the Marcy Infirmary Building with his arms extended above his head and his upper torso parallel to the ground. The other four Defendants in the group followed.
Approximately one minute later, at 9:22 p.m., Robert entered the Infirmary Building carried by three Defendants. Defendants Kessler and Anzalone each held Robert by his arms and Defendant Kingsley held Robert by both of his feet, carrying him in a contorted face- down position
The Defendants proceeded to carry Robert into the open door of a medical examination room, in and around which other On-Scene Defendants were already gathered.
On information and belief, the On-Scene Defendants knew that there were no surveillance cameras in Marcy’s medical examination rooms and they deliberately took Robert to that location so there would be no recordings of what they intended to do to him.
Inside the room, with the door left open, Defendants placed Robert on an examination table face down on his stomach. One Defendant used his knee and hands to forcibly restrain Robert’s legs, while at least one other Defendant used his arms to forcibly restrain Robert’s upper body
Thereafter, over the course of approximately ten minutes, numerous On-Scene Defendants continued to viciously batter Robert in myriad ways without any provocation whatsoever on Robert’s part. Robert’s hands remained restrained behind his back the entire time, leaving him no means to defend himself against Defendants’ attacks or soften their blows.
The continued assault on Robert included, but was not limited to, the actions described in the following paragraphs, that were all recorded on video.
Defendant Anzalone repeatedly punched Robert while Robert was on his back on the examination table, leaving his face visibly bloodied and swollen when Defendants then raised his upper torso
Defendant Farina forcibly tried to shove a white cloth into Robert’s mouth while Defendant Kinglsey kept both of his hands grasped around Robert’s neck, impairing Robert’s ability to breathe
When Robert struggled to move his head for breath, Defendant Anzalone grabbed the front of Robert’s shirt and Defendant Kingsley pulled back on Robert’s neck as Defendant Farina rapidly punched Robert in the face and neck or shoulder area, with hard closed-fist blows, at least six times.
After Defendant Farina’s initial punches to Robert’s face made Robert fall back onto the examination table, Defendant Anzalone punched Robert in the groin or leg area at least twice as Defendant Farina simultaneously continued to punch Robert’s face or shoulder area.
Seconds later, Defendant Kinglsey lifted Robert’s upper torso back up off the table with one hand behind Robert’s head, and another hand around Robert’s neck, so that Robert was again in a sitting position on the edge of the table
Defendant Kingsley then proceeded to position both of his hands around Robert’s neck and lift Robert’s buttocks up off the table two consecutive times by pulling up on Robert’s neck
Defendant Kingsley next repositioned himself by placing his right arm further around Robert’s neck, in a chokehold, and once again forcefully raised Robert up off the examination table by his neck (see Figures 8 and 9 below).
At the same time, Defendant Farina threw away the white cloth that he previously tried to shove into Robert’s mouth, removed one of his gloves, and examined the hand he had just used to repeatedly strike Robert (see Figure 8 below). Defendant Farina then opened and closed his fingers and shook out his hand in an apparent effort to relieve the self-inflicted pain caused by his repeated blows to Robert’s face and head.
Defendant Kingsley then forcefully shoved Robert back down to a seated position on the examination table. Defendant Anzalone next proceeded to repeatedly beat Robert in the stomach with the back of one of Robert’s shoes.
Next, Defendant Anzalone and Defendant Kingsley pushed Robert’s head and shoulders back down onto the examination table once again. Defendant Anzalone, Defendant Kingsley, and Defendant Galliher then restrained Robert’s upper torso, while Defendant Farina kicked his foot into Robert’s groin (see Figure 10 below).
Defendant Farina shifted his weight to push his foot deeper into Robert’s groin or lower stomach area for approximately 8 seconds while the three other Defendants surrounding Robert continued to restrain Robert’s upper body.
Defendant Walrath then joined the assault on Robert’s groin area by holding at least one of Robert’s legs to prevent him from closing them to protect himself.
Thereafter, Defendant Anzalone proceeded to punch Robert in the stomach. Defendants Walrath and Farina then forcibly restrained Robert’s legs and feet with their hands as Robert lay on his back on the examination table, while at the same time other Defendants, including Defendants Kingsley and Anzalone, applied pressure to Robert’s upper body area for an extended period, further restricting his ability to breathe.
When Robert’s body began writhing, Defendant Farina punched Robert three times in the area between Robert’s buttocks and upper thighs.
While Defendant Farina was delivering those punches to Robert’s right side, Defendant Walrath delivered multiple punches to Robert’s left side
While Robert remained on his back on the examination table, with his lower ribcage area visibly extended, Defendant Anzalone struck Robert’s stomach twice with his hands, provoking no visible response from Robert.
After being prompted by another Defendant, Defendant Anzalone then gave Robert a sternum rub.2 Robert’s stomach rose up, demonstrating that he was still responsive to pain.
Defendants, including Defendant Galliher, then placed Robert’s ankles in leg cuff restraints (also known as “leg irons”) while Robert remained on his back on the examination table with his hands restrained behind him.
For an extended time thereafter, Defendant Kingsley kept one of his hands on Robert’s neck and his other hand on Robert’s left arm, while Defendant Anzalone used one of his hands to restrain Robert’s right shoulder. During this period, Robert’s body writhed again with his ribcage visibly extended (see Figure 12 below), and Defendant Anzalone intermittently used his free hand to poke the side of Brooks’ stomach and strike the side of Brooks’ ribcage.
Defendant Anzalone then shifted his weight to push his other hand down harder on Robert’s right shoulder. Next, Defendants Kinglsey and Anzalone forcefully yanked Robert upright into a sitting position at the edge of the examination table by pulling up on his shoulders while Defendant Anzalone simultaneously dug his fist into Robert’s lower stomach area.
Defendant Kingsley and Defendant Anzalone held Robert by the back of his neck to allow Defendant Anzalone to deliver a hard, closed-fist punch to Robert’s stomach (see Figure 13 below). Defendant Anzalone stopped supporting the right side of Robert’s body as he stepped away to retrieve rubber gloves, leaving Robert to struggle to hold himself fully upright
Defendant Anzalone approached Robert once again and grabbed the front of the neck hole of Robert’s shirt with his now-gloved hand. Defendants Anzalone and Kingsley then forcefully yanked Robert into a standing position, lifted Robert’s feet and body up off the ground by Robert’s arms and shirt, shoved Robert into a closed window shade in the corner of the medical examination room, and pushed their knees into the back of his legs.
Robert remained in the corner for an extended period, during which time Defendants Kinglsey, Kessler, and Anzalone continued to push Robert into the wall, apparently committing other abuses that are not visible on camera.
Robert was eventually pushed down onto his knees, remaining in that position until Defendant Anzalone wrapped both of his arms around Robert’s torso and violently jolted Robert’s entire body up off the ground.
Thereafter, Defendants moved Robert back to the examination table, where two Defendants removed Robert’s pants as Defendant Anzalone gave Robert another sternum rub, which this time provoked no apparent response.
By approximately 9:32 p.m., Robert lay motionless and apparently unresponsive, with his pants removed and his socks hanging halfway off his feet, and Defendants finally ended their beating.
Robert was eventually transported to Wynn Hospital in Utica, New York, where he was pronounced dead in the early hours of December 10, 2024.
The On-Scene Defendants who were not actively beating Robert at any given time casually entered and exited the room where Robert’s assault was underway, posted up in the open doorway of the room, or milled about in the hallway immediately outside the room, while nonchalantly watching Robert’s beating, hearing Robert’s abuse, and engaging in conversation with one another.
In the video footage of Robert’s fatal beating, the On-Scene Defendants at times appeared to be smiling or laughing and at other times appeared to be bored. Notably, none of the On-Scene Defendants in the footage appeared to be at all concerned at any time about what was being done to Robert or about the fact that Robert was plainly deteriorating to a state of unconsciousness.
Despite seeing, hearing, and otherwise knowing that Robert was being beaten to death, all the On-Scene Defendants failed to intervene to stop Robert’s assault at any time, despite having ample opportunity to do so.
All the On-Scene Defendants were likewise deliberately indifferent to Robert’s obvious need for critical medical care that could have saved his life.”
