Power restored after protests held outside NYC correctional facility with limited heat

Power restored after protests held outside NYC correctional facility with limited heat

The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn in New York City has been without electricity and heat for a nearly seven days. The cause of the loss of power has been said to be an electrical fire in the switchgear room. With the temperatures outdoors being far below freezing for the better part of this past week, heat was a necessity. Without power, inmates were unable to be in contact with both their attorneys and loved ones. Many of the said loved ones assembled outside of the prison to protest, and some tried to gain access to the inside. Guards had to push out protestors with "pushes, shoves, and pepper spray." This group of protestors decided to rally until power was restored. Local politicians have flocked to the issue, and apparently the warden and the Bureau of Prisons have not been very cooperative, nor have they met the problem with any sense of urgency. Some of the politicians took to Twitter to illuminate their side of the story after several of them visited the prison. Reports from Senator Myrie who is a representative of the district the prison lies within has said that the Bureau of Prisons has given him "incoherent explanations and showed no sense of urgency, and little desire to address the crisis at hand." Many more have shared similar statements and have declared this a "violation of human rights." Supposedly the heat came back on this afternoon. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/power-restored-after-protests-nyc-correctional-facility-with-limited-heat-metropolitan-detention-center-brooklyn/

By Megan Saar