Locust Club president spars with Council Member Martin over RPD no-vote

ROCHESTER, N.Y. RPD Locust Club President Mike Mazzeo is responding to Rochester City Council Member Stanley Martin Thursday night after comments made at a meeting on Tuesday.

It all began with Martin’s no vote on funding an RPD Office of Business Intelligence renovation project on Tuesday. Martin’s vote was followed by pointed remarks demanding the release of body cam footage from an officer-involved shooting before future RPD funding decisions are made.

Martin said body cam footage of the officer-involved shooting death of 35-year-old Brendon Burns of Rochester must be released to the public.

“Yesterday, RPD killed a man who was running from them and I don’t see how we can continue to fund RPD without seeing the body cam footage, without seeing what actually happened, so it’s a no for me,” Martin said.

According to RPD officials, Burns pointed a shotgun at officers during a chase that involved both Rochester police officers and Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies on Monday, and when he refused to drop the gun, he was shot and killed.

In a statement released Thursday, Mazzeo stated that “The comments made by Council Member Stanley Martin in last Tuesday’s council meeting shows her consistent pattern of biased and extremist anti-police rants and that no elected official should represent and carry out the responsibilities of their office driven only by personal biases and agenda.”

Martin responded in a statement of her own on Thursday, in part, stating: “We cannot continue business as usual. Lethal force should be an absolute last resort, and every possible option should’ve been explored to keep him alive, especially considering the level of resources and coordination that were brought to bear in this incident.”

The New York State Attorney General’s Office is investigating, as is required for any officer-involved shooting.