ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Advocates gathered Sunday afternoon to mark the five-year anniversary of Daniel Prude’s arrest, which later led to his death, and to push for legislative change.

Prude, a Black man experiencing a mental health crisis while under the influence of PCP, died in 2020 after being taken into custody by the Rochester Police Department.

His death was ruled a homicide, but no officers were charged.

Protesters and advocates assembled near the site of Prude’s arrest to honor his life and call for the passage of Daniel’s Law.

“Daniel’s Law is pretty simple. It’ll remove police from being the default responders when people call 911 for help,” said Stanley Martin of Free the People Rochester. “It’ll allow for a public health response where peers who are people with lived experience and mental health workers, like social workers or mental health counselors, will be first responders.”

Chacku Mathai of the Daniel’s Law Coalition shared personal experiences to emphasize the need for change.

“As a person myself with a psychiatric history and substance use history since I was a teenager and a suicide attempt as a teenager, my family never called 911 because we knew about these challenges,” Mathai said.

Majid Dunson of Vocal NY highlighted the importance of education in addressing mental health issues. “We’re sitting back and we’re trying to educate people more about what mental health is. It’s not, a crime, it doesn’t make you more violent or anything else like that,” Dunson said.

Shay Herbet of the New York Civil Liberties Union called for action. “We hear a lot of verbal commitments, and we need those commitments to now be tangible,” Herbet said.

Vigils for Prude were also held in New York City and Albany, with participants urging the passage of Daniel’s Law.

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