An inmate at a federal prison in Brooklyn died after being pepper sprayed when officials say they thought he was a danger to himself

• An inmate who was in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, died after being pepper-sprayed by staff, local outlets reported.
• The inmate, Jamel Floyd, was reportedly being disruptive and thought to be a danger to himself and others before authorities pepper-sprayed him and removed him from his cell.
• Floyd was unresponsive after being pepper-sprayed and was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after.

An inmate who was in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, died after being pepper-sprayed by staff, local outlets reported.

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, of New York's seventh district, said in a tweet that Jamel Floyd, a 35-year-old African-American inmate, had allegedly barricaded himself inside his cell and broke the cell door window with a metal object.

Velázquez said her office would follow up on the incident and called for the prison to "maintain all security video footage of Mr. Floyd's unit for review."

—Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) June 4, 2020

US Department of Justice officials confirmed the incident to PIX11, and a DOJ spokesperson told the local news outlet that the FBI and US Marshals Service were notified. On June 3, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a statement saying the OIG would be investigating the incident.

According to PIX11, a spokesperson for the prison said Floyd "became increasingly disruptive," and added that there was a worry that he could harm himself or others. Floyd was then pepper-sprayed and removed from his cell.

By the time the medical staff responded, he was unresponsive. EMS continued life-saving measures, and Floyd was eventually taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The federal prison garnered criticism last February after inmates spent more than a week without heat during freezing temperatures, Business Insider previously reported.

At the time the facility held "more than 1,600 inmates and has been subject to freezing temperatures brought on by the polar vortex that froze the northeast over the week," Business Insider wrote.

People passing by the prison saw inmates flashing lights and banging the windows of the facility, about a week after the issue was known.

With the recent death of the inmate, Velázquez called the prison unsafe.

"Whether it is a loss of heat in the dead of winter, inadequate protection against the spread of COVID-19, or this most recent incident, it has become evident this institution is too often unsafe," she wrote.

Director of Release Aging People in Prison, Jose Saldana, who spent 38 years in federal and state prisons and has been pepper-sprayed, told CNN he wants an independent investigation.

"Pepper spray, under normal circumstances, when it's used the way it's supposed to be used, is not supposed to be fatal," Saldana told CNN. "But when it's used excessively, it might trigger a heart attack or something else that may lead to someone dying. They had to have done something in addition to just giving a regular dose of pepper spray."

According to The New York Post, while his cause of death was not immediately released, there no indication that this death was related to COVID-19.

The first confirmed coronavirus case among inmates at federal prison occurred at this facility, the Associated Press previously reported.