On March 23, 2020, Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old African-American man, died after being physically restrained by Rochester, New York police officers. Prude had been suffering from a mental health episode after ingesting PCP and left his brother's house in a disturbed and naked state. His brother called the police, which then led to the encounter with law enforcement in the street outside of his brother's house. The officers put a spit hood over his head after he began spitting. They restrained him face-down on the street for two minutes and fifteen seconds, and he stopped breathing. Prude received CPR on the scene and later died of complications from asphyxia after being taken off life support.

The autopsy report ruled Prude's death a homicide and also included the contributing factors to his death as "excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP". The death first received attention in September 2020 when the police body camera video and written reports were released along with the autopsy report. Following the report's release, protesters demonstrated outside the Rochester police headquarters and many considered the death to be related to Prude's race. The demonstrations were connected to the Black Lives Matter movement and the string of racial justice events of 2020.

On February 23, 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the empaneled grand jury declined to charge the seven officers involved in Prude's death. The same day, the US Attorney's office for the Western District of New York announced they will review the AG report and other evidence, and rule whether a federal response is warranted.

Daniel T. Prude (September 20, 1978 – March 30, 2020) arrived in Rochester, New York, from Chicago on March 22, 2020, to visit his older brother, Joe Prude. Daniel acted erratically upon his arrival, jumping headfirst down a flight of stairs. His brother dialed emergency services for help. Daniel received a mental health evaluation at Strong Memorial Hospital and was released that night. Within several hours, Daniel resumed his erratic behavior and fled his brother's house around 3 a.m. His brother called emergency services again for assistance. Prude shed his long underwear, tank top, and socks while on the street. A passerby recorded a Facebook Live video of Prude after he begged someone to call emergency services, but Prude ran away when the person called.

At 3:16 a.m., multiple officers and two emergency medical technicians arrived at Prude's location in southwest Rochester, where he was walking naked and bleeding. One officer exited his car and approached Prude, pointing a taser at him while asking him six times to get on the ground. Prude complied and was then asked by the officer to put his hands behind his back, to which he also complied. During the arrest, he said, "Yes, sir" several times to the officer. While handcuffed and on the ground, Prude repeatedly said, "In Jesus Christ I pray, amen", among various other comments.

At around 3:19 a.m., Prude became agitated, spitting at officers, and yelling, "Give me that gun", until one officer placed a spit hood over Prude's head. Prude demanded that they remove it. One minute later, Prude unsuccessfully attempted to stand up before being repeatedly pushed over by officers, who forcibly held him down for approximately two minutes and 15 seconds. Officer Mark Vaughn used his body weight and both hands to press the side of Prude's head to the pavement. Vaughn's report called this a "hypoglossal nerve technique" which, according to USA Today, "involves jamming fingers into a nerve below the jaw to cause pain and persuade a subject to comply". Officer Troy Taladay applied his knee to Prude's back. Another officer held Prude's legs. At the start of the hold, Prude said, "You're trying to kill me." The officers noticed liquid coming from Prude's mouth as he stopped speaking and moving. As Vaughn released his hold, he said "You good now?" Prude did not respond. Vaughn then pushed on his head with one hand for 45 seconds while the attending officers chatted. Three minutes and ten seconds after the restraint began, one police officer remarked that he had been vomiting during the restraint and his chest compressions appeared to have stopped. The Associated Press reported that police leaders pressed Rochester to keep the video of Prude's death secret, fearing a "violent blowback" if the video came out during the nationwide George Floyd protests.

An emergency medical technician asked the officers to turn Prude on his back. Acknowledging that Prude was unresponsive, he instructed an officer to apply CPR, who did so. At 3:27 a.m., Prude was placed into an ambulance. While in transport to Strong Memorial Hospital, his heartbeat resumed, but he remained incapacitated from lack of oxygen and was later declared brain dead. He was taken off life support a week after the arrest, on March 30.

The medical examiner's autopsy report ruled Prude's death a homicide as a result of "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint". The report found contributing factors included "excited delirium and acute intoxication by phencyclidine, or PCP". The report did not mention prior mental health issues or explain the link between the toxicology test and his behavior. Prude's sister claimed Prude smoked a PCP-laced joint at a party prior to his erratic behavior. She sent him to visit their brother when he began acting erratically.