Dozens of New York state lawmakers continue to push for Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County to shut down, and said Monday that they won't give up.

Lawmakers have proposed a package of legislation to reform state prisons after Robert Brooks, a 43-year-old Rochester incarerated man, died Dec. 10 after more than a dozen correction officers beat him while he was handcuffed. The incident was captured on footage from officers' body cameras.

Dozens of protestors took over the Capitol on Monday screaming Brooks' name — enraged as 16 staffers remain suspended without pay in connection to the incident, but no charges have been filed. Two officers have since quit.

"We know from that video recording how important transparency is in order to bring about accountability and lasting reform," Jennifer Scaife, executive director Correctional Association of New York, said during a Capitol rally.

Demonstrators chanted through the halls and carried signs demanding the medium-security prison be closed and interrupted multiple other events.

Senate Crime Victims, Crime & Correction Committee chair Julia Salazar sponsors legislation to make it easier to discipline or fire officers who have been accused of misconduct or abuse, and bills to create new state entities to increase prison oversight and make data more available.

But the senator says Hochul's aides have told her they remain open to closing Marcy Correctional.

"What the executive board expressed to me is an openness to it, and it's going to continue to be a conversation about Marcy being closed," Salazar said.

Sixty lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Hochul earlier this month demanding she close Marcy Correctional Facility. Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs, who has led the fight to close the prison, said they're preparing to send another letter with at least 10 more lawmakers signing on.

Assembly Correction Committee chair Erik Dilan did not attend Monday's rally, and said he was not invited. Dilan has not signed the letter.

Salazar said she's confident that her and Dilan's agendas are aligned, and her office invited all members of the state's Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican & Asian Legislative Caucus.

"We are tired of words, I want action," said Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, who chairs the caucus. "We want the package of legislative bills, we want system change, we want reallocation, we want it all. We want accountability, we want these bills now. We don't want to wait until the end of session [and] having discussions. We need to do it right up front."

But making it easier to discipline or terminate officers come down to changes with union contracts. The state Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association bargaining agreement with the state expires March 31, 2026.

Leaders with the state correction officers' union condemn the attack on Brooks, but are urging lawmakers to take their time to draft the right legislation, and maintain disciplinary changes are not the solution.

"While we understand the need for changes, we implore those in control of crafting legislation targeted at the correctional system not to make the same mistake that occurred when there were widespread calls across the country to defund the police five years ago," a union spokesperson said in a statement Monday. "...In no way do we support the actions of those involved in Mr. Brooks' death. What we do support is a comprehensive approach to address the violence inside our prisons that have reached epidemic levels. The actions of those officers do not represent the vast majority of the officers who perform their sworn duties with professionalism and attention to those who are incarcerated. Those officers and the incarcerated they are responsible for their custody and care need practical solutions from all stakeholders to address the violence in our prisons and the safety of both staff and inmates. Any rash and hasty legislation will not address the dep-rooted problems of violence, it may only exacerbate it.”

Hochul and legislative leaders have not publicly joined lawmakers calling for the prisons' closure.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins refused to answer Spectrum News 1's question Monday about if the prison should be closed, but said leaders will be discussing what the correct response should be.

"Just like everything else that we do, that our perspective our investigations our legislation will lead in spaces that we obviously need to lead in," Stewart-Cousins told reporters.

Assemblyman Gibbs spent the night at Marcy Correctional last week and said he has received more than 600 letters from incarcerated people across the state since Brooks' death. Gibbs is the state's first formerly incarcerated assemblymember and served five-and-a-half years in prison on a manslaughter charge.

The assemblyman is adamant about talking closure before other reforms, and said the governor and leaders' hesitancy to close the prison is about playing politics.

"Well, the governor has to run for reelection, and she'll have to explain to all the African American people in the city and all the Hispanic people in the city why she didn't close this abusive prison down," Gibbs told Spectrum News 1. "If she wants play politics, we can play politics, too."

Lawmakers in both chambers have requested holding a joint legislative hearing examining this incident, the closure of Marcy and reforms to address increased violence in state prisons.

They first plan to question witnesses at the state budget hearing on protection scheduled for Feb. 13.