SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Electricity was restored Sunday to a Sunset Park detention center that sparked protests over the weekend when activists and loved ones realized inmates were being kept inside freezing cells largely without electricity or heat. But the U.S. Department of Justice said it will still investigate exactly what happened at the federal jail.
“In the coming days, the Department will work with the Bureau of Prisons to examine what happened and ensure the facility has the power, heat and backup systems in place to prevent the problem from reoccurring,” Wyn Hornbuckle, Deputy Director of Public Affairs U.S. Department of Justice, said in a statement.
The Metropolitan Detention Center will return to regular operations after the partial lockdown that began when Jan. 27 after an electrical fire caused the power to go out. Electrical power was restored around 6:30 p.m. Sunday and heat and hot water are now operational, Hornbuckle said.
The announcement comes after a weekend of massive outcry, both in large demonstrations outside the jail and online from elected officials, activists and even celebrities.
Demonstrators and loved ones stood outside the jail for most of the weekend, exchanging messages with prisoners inside through signs and chants, while the inmates responded by banging on the windows and walls, videos from the protests show.
The inmates had been kept from communicating with loved ones or lawyers during the lockdown and many were struggling to stay warm inside their cells as temperatures outside dipped well below freezing, reaching as low as 3 degrees.
The Bureau of Prisons acknowledged that the jail “experienced a partial power outage due to a fire in the switch gear room” but insisted that inmates had hot water for showers and sinks, and were getting medications as needed, AP reports.
The protests grew unruly on Sunday afternoon when demonstrators who stormed the jail were stopped by correction officers inside the building, reportedly with pepper spray, The New York Times reports.
Councilman Brad Lander told reporters that he was inside the prison’s security area when the protesters came inside and saw the guards react.
“Prison guards started running to block them, to push them out and one of them sprayed pepper spray,” Lander said, adding that some protesters and a security guard were hit particularly bad. “I was coughing and sneezing and had my eyes burning…I did not have it nearly as bad as the protesters.”
The Times reported that the incident began when 51-year-old Yvonne Morilla, of Queens, walked up to the door crying asking to see her son inside, which began the episode of “brief chaos.”
Lander was one of several elected officials who joined in with the protesters or called for the situation to be resolved.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an investigation on Sunday, calling the lack of heat and electricity “a violation of human decency and dignity.”
“Prisoners in New York are human beings,” Cuomo said. “Let’s treat them that way.”
Photos: 1. Prisoners at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility of all security levels where prisoners have been without heat, hot water, electricity and proper sanitation due to an electrical failure since earlier in the week, respond to family members and protesters who turned out to call attention to the conditions, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) 2. A youngster holds a sign as he joins protesters and other family members of inmates held a protest at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in New York. Prisoners have been without heat, hot water, electricity and sanitation due to an electrical failure since earlier in the week, including during the recent frigid cold snap. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens). 3. Caren Burton, of Bayshore, Long Island, holds a sign so her incarcerated son Tyrone Robinson can see it as she protests jail conditions from outside the Metropolitan Detention Center Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in New York. Prisoners have been without heat, hot water, electricity and sanitation due to an electrical failure since earlier in the week, including during the recent frigid cold snap. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)