ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Protests following the death of Daniel Prude while in the custody of the Rochester Police Department have sparked a call for a federal investigation.

Rochester City Councilmember Mary Lupien and Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart want the U.S. Department of Justice to review how police responded to demonstrators and whether the civil rights of protesters were violated. 

The two have sent a letter to Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, who heads up the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ, and are asking for an investigation. 

"The reason we're asking the Department of Justice to investigate is we believe an outside agency is the most appropriate to address this situation. That's because they have the resources, the capacity, and the expertise we simply don't have in local government. The other reason is we were assaulted by our own government.  We don't know if it was Rochester Police, state police, Monroe County. We need an outside investigation into what happened here."