An inmate in New York has died after being pepper sprayed by prison guards during a lockdown prompted by George Floyd protests across the US.
Jamel Floyd, 35, allegedly smashed his cell-door window with a metal object on Wednesday morning at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Officers attempted to subdue the prisoner with pepper spray and Floyd lost consciousness. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn but died of a heart attack, prison sources told the New York Daily News.
‘Responding staff observed inmate Jamel Floyd barricaded inside his cell and breaking the cell door window with a metal object. He became increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others. Pepper spray was deployed and staff removed him from his cell,’ the Bureau of Prisons stated.
Jamel Floyd, 35, allegedly smashed his cell-door window with a metal object on Wednesday morning at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (pictured)
‘The FBI and the United States Marshals Service were notified. No staff or other inmates were injured,’ the statement added.
Floyd had been imprisoned since October 2019. It was not immediately clear for what crime he was serving a sentence.
Records show he had previously jailed for charges including burglary, tampering with evidence and endangering the welfare of a child.
An investigation into his death is ongoing.
The Bureau of Prisons had ordered a lockdown at all its facilities on Monday in response to the nationwide demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis the week before.
‘In light of extensive protest activity occurring around the country, the BOP – in an abundance of caution – is implementing an additional, temporary security measure to ensure the good order and security of our institutions, as well as ensure the safety of staff and inmates,’ the Bureau said in a statement.
The agency said that the move, imposing the strictest lockdown in 25 years, was not as a response to anything happening within its prisons, but a precaution.
This bolstered earlier restrictions put in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the jail.
Source: dailymail US
