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Rochester Mayor Fires Police Chief Early, Calls for Federal Probe of Daniel Prude’s Death

Mayor Lovely Warren said the homicide of the 41-year-old Black man was part of a much larger local problem. The chief apparently learned his fate on social media.

The mayor of Rochester, New York, where 41-year-old Black man Daniel Prude died after being placed in a “spit hood” by cops in March, fired the city’s Police Chief La’Ron Singletary on Monday—two weeks ahead of his planned retirement.

The chief was said to learn of his fate via social media.

Mayor Lovely Warren, whose administration has tried to contain local rage since the recent revelation of the nature of Prude’s death months after the fact, also suspended a city attorney and spokesperson without pay for 30 days. She said every level of city government had a role in how Prude’s case was handled—or not handled.

Warren also said she would be inviting the Department of Justice and a local watchdog to examine the city’s response to the incident, which was deemed a homicide.

“Frankly, the public should have been informed of Mr. Prude’s death and the circumstances that led to his death in March," Warren said, promising reforms of her city’s police department, which she characterized as viewing “everything through the eyes of the badge.”