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Daniel Prude death: 'Hundreds' allegedly trapped inside NY grocery store as BLM protesters block exits

Prude allegedly died of asphyxiation after police handcuffed him in the middle of a snow-covered street while he was naked

More than 100 customers were trapped inside a New York grocery store by what social media reported was a Black Lives Matter protest, marching against the custodial death of 41-year-old Daniel Prude.

The protest happened in Rochester on the morning of Tuesday, March 23. The incident followed after Prude died on March 23, 2020, while being arrested by the police. The march was tweeted live by Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reporter Justin Murphy in a series of tweets, where he also shared the peaceful beginning of the protest, that led to customers trapped inside a supermarket.

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Reporting what led to the entrapment of a hundred civilians inside the store, Murphy tweeted: "The 3W bus from Lyell Ave to Walmart sitting in the transit center bay has become a focal point for some reason." He then quoted: "The only thing people understand is violence and commerce. We’re not being violent but we are disrupting commerce in this city.” He then explains it is "Assemblyman Demond Meeks talking now, calling for anti-racist activism and bolder action regarding disciplining & terminating officers."

Murphy then tweets: "I’d estimate about 150 people now," along with videos and photos that showed protesters moving through downtown streets. They interrupted the flow of traffic before reaching a store called Wegmans grocery and then blocked its exits.

WHAM journalist Michael Schwartz tweeted how store officials could be seen locking the business up. He followed it up with how they eventually let the customers sneak out, while keeping the door closed to protesters. "Demonstrators have blocked the parking lot with their personal vehicles, as messages are written on the pavement & signs. Customers that were inside East Ave Wegmans have been let out another side," he tweeted.

Local radio host Bob Lonsberry also called out Rochester police for allegedly standing by and doing nothing while 'hundreds' were trapped in by protesters. "Hundreds of people trapped in the East Avenue #ROC Wegmans by this mob. The Rochester Police Department is just watching and letting it happen. I guess fire codes and trespassing aren't things in Rochester anymore. What an embarrassing day for the city and the PD," he tweeted.

Prude allegedly died of asphyxiation after police handcuffed him in the middle of a snow-covered street while he was naked. Advocates have also complained that city officials and the police took around six months to reveal the circumstances of his death. An investigation that went on for six months alleged that the public was misled and then Chief of Police La’Ron Singletary “downplayed, omitted details, and misdirected city officials and the public,” a local newspaper had reported. Chief Singletary was then fired and Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan replaced him.

This protest comes just a month after the February BLM protests in Rochester, when the police had pepper-sprayed a nine-year-old Black girl. The march on Tuesday went on at Wegmans grocery with protesters blocking the parking lot with their cars and setting up tents in front of the store, the local newspaper reported, adding that organizers of the protest told reporters they came to a store in the outskirts of the city to not “preach to the choir.”