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Graphic new video shows Daniel Prude -- a 41-year-old Black man -- having a hood placed over his head by police, who then press his face into the ground for 2 minutes until he stops breathing ... leading to his death days later.

The disturbing incident happened back on March 23 in Rochester, NY when Prude's brother called for help because Daniel was acting erratically and went out into the cold night with no clothes. This police body cam footage was just released.

Cops arrived to find him in the nude, but Prude complied when they told him to sit down and handcuffed him.

The video shows Prude spitting at one point, then yelling and pleading with officers to let him go before they place a "spit hood" over his head. Moments later when he tries to stand up, they wrestle him down and hold him face down for more than 2 minutes.

After noticing fluid seeping from his mouth, some of the officers become concerned and realize he's unconscious. He never woke up again.

Prude was taken to the hospital and placed on life support, but died a week later. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, caused by "complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint" as well as "excited delirium" and PCP intoxication.

Daniel's family released the footage Wednesday, claiming it shows the excessive police force used during the incident. Prude's brother said ... "I placed a phone call for my brother to get help. Not for my brother to get lynched."

Protests are erupting in upstate NY over his killing, which looks tragically similar to what happened to George Floyd 2 months later ... sparking the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement.

The 4 cops involved in Prude's arrest are still on the force. New York's Attorney General Letitia James said she is investigating the incident.

Ya Lun and Xi Lun -- the only giant panda twins in America -- got to chow down and chill out to celebrate their birthday ... so a pretty typical day for them, but with presents.

The cute and cuddly beasts were treated Thursday by Zoo Atlanta's Panda Care Team with a "special birthday enrichment" in their big dayroom area ... which included ice cakes, sugarcane "candles" with sweet potato "flames" and birthday boxes to bust open and enjoy.

Inside those boxes -- more treats ... like leaf-eater biscuits, apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes. Pretty awesome gifts for any 4-year-old panda ... sure looks that way anyhow.

The video's beyond adorable and a welcome break from the endless bad news 2020 keeps dumping on us. If you wanna see more ... the zoo's got a panda cam!!!

Joe Biden spent over an hour face-to-face with Jacob Blake's family ... and even spoke with Jacob by phone from his hospital bed.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the Democratic Presidential nominee, along with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, spent a "very engaging" 90-minute in-person meeting with Jacob's father, sisters and brother in their hometown of Kenosha, WI. Crump joined by phone along with Jacob's mother and Jacob himself from his hospital bed.

Crump, the Blake family's attorney, says they were "very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen." He added ... "They talked about changing the disparate treatment of minorities in police interactions, the impact of selecting Kamala Harris as a Black woman as his running mate" and his plans for change.

As for Biden's convo with Jacob himself ... Crump says the candidate extended "a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer."

The sit down comes less than a week after Jacob's father spoke by phone with Biden and Harris.

A fight between 2 of New York's most notorious residents -- a pigeon and a rat -- looked like it was going to the death ... until a pipe-wielding referee broke up the action.

All this video is missing is a UFC Octagon, and it looks like the rat was about to make the pigeon tap out ... like, forever. The bird was flapping its wings, desperately trying to get out of the rat's death grip.

Things really weren't looking good for the "rat of the sky" when all of a sudden -- outta nowhere -- a man delivered a crushing blow to the ground rat. The rodent quickly scurried away, but looks like the poor pigeon took a few blows too ... adding insult to injury.

Miraculously, both the bird and the rat seemed to walk away from the melee alive. The pigeon even had some swagger in its step as it left. Then again they always look like they're strutting.

Damian Daniels, the African-Amerian Army vet killed by cops in Texas, was desperately in need of mental counseling, and not sheriff's deputies responding with force ... according to the family's lawyer.

Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt and Damian's brother, Brendan, joined us on "TMZ Live" to discuss the case which is stirring outrage in the San Antonio area and beyond. Brendan says his family was doing everything they could to avoid having police check on Damian -- a combat veteran who was experiencing some mental distress.

He told us why they purposely called the Red Cross, and not cops, to do a welfare check on his brother just over a week ago -- but in the end, he says the Red Cross ended up calling the Bexar County Sheriff's Department. Brendan and Lee believe that's where things took a horrible turn.

When deputies arrived at Damian's home he was armed, and a struggle ensued with deputies who ended up fatally shooting him. The Sheriff's Dept. claims Damian was suicidal, but Lee and Brendan say that's just not true.

They know Damian was hurting, struggling with mental issues brought on by several recent deaths in their family -- but they don't believe for a second he was threatening to anyone. As for his weapon ... Texas is an open-carry state and the gun was legally owned. Brendan says his brother actually got it while serving America in the Army.

A Bay Area police officer's been charged with voluntary manslaughter for shooting and killing a black man who was wielding a bat in Walmart.

The San Leandro cop, Jason Fletcher, made no attempt to de-escalate the situation before fatally shooting 33-year-old Steven Demarco Taylor ... according to Alameda County District Attorney, Nancy E. O’Malley.

The D.A. claims Taylor didn't pose an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury to Fletcher or others in the store, and says she made the decision Wednesday to charge the officer with manslaughter.

As we reported ... cops responded to the Walmart outside Oakland on the afternoon of April 18, and encountered Taylor with an aluminum bat in his hands.

Police say they used Tasers on him first near the shopping carts area, but video showed he was shot multiple times by either a Taser or a gun ... even after he had dropped the bat and fallen limp to the ground.

Prosecutors claim Fletcher did use a stun gun on Taylor first, but then shot him in the chest. The entire encounter lasted roughly 40 seconds.

It's cloudy with a chance of cannabis in Tel Aviv ... a drone dropped bags of weed over a city square, sending folks running into the streets for the gratis greens.

Dank started dropping from the skies over Rabin Square Thursday, a ganja gift from local activists seeking to legalize it.

As you can see in the video, the free baggies of bud started fluttering down from a high-flying drone, and people scrambled to scoop up the strains in the middle of traffic.

Pro-legalization group Green Drone hinted at the operation beforehand in a message on Telegram, saying ... "The time has come. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the Green Drone sending you free cannabis from the skies."

The fun police, AKA actual police, put a stop to it all, though -- cops say they arrested 2 men who allegedly operated the drone. Police claimed the bags were packed with "a dangerous drug." Hey, not everyone's come around on marijuana.

Medical cannabis is legal in Israel, while recreational use is illegal, but mostly decriminalized.

Black Americans are in the midst of 2 pandemics -- COVID-19 and the systemic racism that took root 401 years ago ... so says civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

Ben joined "TMZ Live" on Thursday and didn't mince words ... saying there's a hypocritical justice system when it comes to how Black Americans are treated, and the fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee in L.A. is just the latest evidence.

Kizzee's family has hired Crump, who says he's assembling a "dream team" of attorneys to push the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. for more evidence. As you know, home security footage shows deputies firing on Kizzee at least 15 times as he was running away from them.

Crump finds Kizzee's death especially outraging because Kyle Rittenhouse killed 2 protesters in Kenosha, and was still able to walk right by police while brandishing his firearm.

He says it's a clear sign of the systemic racism Black Americans have faced since 1619 ... the first year African slaves were brought to American soil. You've gotta see his take on what he's now calling "COVID-1619."

Crump, who also reps Breonna Taylor's family, is baffled by the fact the L.A. County Sheriff's deputies were not wearing body cams ... but he's thankful that, especially in L.A., cameras are always rolling.

Britney Spears is making it clear -- she doesn't trust her dad and wants the public to hear what he and other professionals are doing to keep her in the conservatorship, and she also says the #FreeBritney movement's not only real ... she supports it.

Britney's lawyers just filed docs opposing her dad Jamie's motions to seal parts of her ongoing conservatorship case ... because she wants everyone to know what's up.

Britney is fighting her dad's move to appoint a co-conservator of her estate [handling business matters] to a lawyer who was deeply involved in her conservatorship for years. She wants someone independent to take the reins.

Britney argues there are no medical issues or sensitive issues with her children to protect, so there's no reason to keep the hearing secret.

The lawyer says, "... Britney herself is vehemently opposed to this effort by her father to keep her legal struggle hidden away in the closet as a family secret."

The lawyer adds, "Far from being a conspiracy theory or a 'joke' as James [Jamie] reportedly told the media, in large part this scrutiny is a reasonable and even predictable result of James' aggressive use of the sealing procedure over the years to minimize the amount of meaningful information made available to the public."

Mikal Smith -- son of ex-NFL head coach Lovie Smith -- was arrested in Arizona this week after officials say he's been pimping, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 43-year-old -- who served as an assistant coach under his father with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Bucs -- was booked on Thursday for a slew of disturbing charges.

Officials tell TMZ Sports ... Smith is facing everything from pandering (another word for pimping) along with receiving earnings from a prostitute and sex trafficking.

He's also facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy.

The details surrounding the case are unclear -- we're working on it.

Mikal was a former college football player at the University of Arizona back in the day before getting into coaching.

He worked as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears when his father was the head guy over there ... and later followed Lovie to the Tampa Bay Bucs, where he worked with defensive backs.

Mikal also coached at Trinity International University before working at the NFL level.

Cristiano Ronaldo's longtime GF Georgina Rodriguez turned the Venice Film Festival into her very own fashion show on Thursday ... and yeah, the woman SLAAAAAAAYED.

Yes, that's 7 As ... and they're all necessary.

The soccer superstar's gorgeous lady showed up for the showings of "The Human Voice" and "Quo Vadis, Aida?" at the big event in Italy ... decked out in a light pink gown that was sure to turn heads.

The best part?? SAFETY!!

Georgina even had a matching mask to go with her wardrobe -- after all, the coronavirus is still very much a thing, you know.

Rodriguez and Ronaldo have been living it up together in 2020 ... from a pants-optional quarantine to sailing around on an expensive yacht with their incredibly attractive friends while we all sit back and watch jealously from afar.

Oh, and don't forget the thong'd out underwater video she made the other day.

Georgina is KILLLING!!!

A chemistry class expecting instructions from their professor instead got a very special message from his T.A. instead ... the one and only, Snoop Dogg.

Dr. Benny is the sharply-dressed teacher of Chem 60 at Los Angeles Pierce College, and on the first day of visual learning, he enlisted the rapper to send a very important message to his students ... read the syllabus!!

As for why, Snoop tells the class ... "The more you know, the further you go." Dr. Benny approves.

If first impressions are everything, you gotta think these college kids will be more inspired than ever to learn about elements and compounds.

This guy is blowing off that ol' saying, "Don't feed the bears," in the worst way possible ... feeding one from his own mouth!!! Yeah, this is WILD.

The dude's name is Dakota Datz, but if he keeps this up ... call him Bear Bait. It's unclear where he did this, but he ran into a bear cub that loves cookies, so Dakota decided on a little mouth-to-mouth to feed his new furry friend.

Yeah, the bear looks cute and all ... but, obviously, this is NOT advisable. Dakota recorded vids, over several days, interacting with the cub during a camping trip. In one post he included the caption, "Baby girl came back this weekend."

Of course ... you're giving her cookies!!!

He might have gotten this idea from Jason Momoa ... who as ya might remember did the exact same thing last November. Difference is ... Aquaman did with a bear in captivity. Still not a good idea.

Then there's the family that fed a bear PB&J sandos?! Come to think of it ... none were braver than the woman who took a selfie with a wild black bear and lived to tell it.

Chadwick Boseman's hometown is already hard at work on a statue that'll pay tribute to the "Black Panther" star ... but those who want it to replace a Confederate memorial shouldn't hold their breath.

A spokesperson for Mayor Terence Roberts' Office in Anderson, SC tells TMZ ... the city is enthusiastically working on a permanent public tribute to honor the late actor.

We're told the City has already contacted an artist and they're brainstorming ideas on how best to honor the hometown hero who played legendary roles. We're told the statue will include a mix of sculpture with mural and/or art elements.

The spokesperson conceded they don't have plans nailed down but he assured us it'll be suitable for a king. We're told the Mayor's office wants public input, to ensure it does the entire city proud.

A Change.org petition is gaining steam ... after calling for a Chadwick Boseman statue to replace a Confederate memorial currently in front of the city's courthouse. Thing is ... that's not the Mayor's call, because removal of a Confederate monument requires a two-thirds vote from the state legislature.

But, what can move forward ... a fitting tribute in the late star's hometown. As we reported ... Chadwick's sudden death shocked the world following a 4-year, very private battle with colon cancer.

Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson are no longer just getting cozy again ... they're also getting sweaty together.

Khloe and Tristan hit up Malibu Hills Wednesday for a healthy hike and seemed to cement what everyone's suspected for some time -- they're back together. The old adage that couples that dress together, stay together may also be true ... 'cause they seemed to coordinate their sleek black outfits.

Tristan even gave his sports agency -- Klutch Sports Group -- some good pub. BTW, it appears 'KUWTK' cameras were also rolling during their hike ... so, it's also possible this was just a scenic location for a heavy convo you'll eventually see on the show.

As we reported ... Scott Disick confirmed -- albeit, accidentally -- Khloe and Tristan are back together with a since-deleted comment on one of Khloe's Instagram posts. Remember, Khloe and Tristan have been hanging out a lot in recent months. They've also been quarantining together, but we initially thought that was just to co-parent.

But, take note ... no sign of True on this hike.

When Dana White offered a job to a female Best Buy security guard who manhandled a male alleged shoplifter back in December ... HE WASN'T KIDDING!

You remember Summer Tapasa -- the woman who was FIRED from her Best Buy gig when surveillance video of the December incident went viral ... showing her beating up a suspected shoplifter to keep him from leaving the store.

Dana was so impressed at the time, he flew her out to UFC 246 in January to watch the Conor McGregor vs. Cowboy Cerrone fight as his VIP guest.

Now, Dana has announced he's brought Summer on board as a full-time UFC staffer!

"I brought her out to Vegas. I offered her a job here. She went back to Hawaii, she weighed all her options and she decided to work for UFC. She is now a UFC employee, so for all of you thinking about f**king around here at UFC, you will get your ass whooped by Summer,” White said.

Summer also shot a video -- saying, “My name is Summer Tapasa and I am a UFC corporate security officer."

"I have been working with UFC for eight days and I am looking forward to expanding my career and hopefully moving on up."