Meek Mill and More Rally Behind Inmates With No Heat in New York Prison

UPDATE:

Protests rage on at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Sunday (Feb. 3). Mysonne continues to report live from the scene. Reports that the heat in the building had been turned back on appear to be false. In the video clip posted by the rapper, the inmates are still beating on the walls to indicate that the building has yet to be heated.

Love & Hip Hop's Yandy Smith was on hand speaking out with protesters. She was able to confirm with inmates via megaphone that the blankets New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said would be delivered to the facility have not been received by inmates.

Things later turned ugly. According to witnesses, Smith was attacked and pepper sprayed during a scuffle, possibly with police.

Check out footage from the protests below.

ORIGINAL POST:

Hip-hop is rallying behind inmates with no heat in a New York prison. According to The New York Times, over 1,600 inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., have been without proper heat and hot water for the past week. This situation was happening as the temperature in the city dropped as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit this week.

On Saturday (Feb. 2), Mysonne, Meek Mill and T.I. voiced their concerns about the inhumane treatment of the prisoners at the facility. Mysonne reported live from outside of the facility in order to raise awareness for the injustice that is reportedly going on. In his video, the inmates can be heard beating on the windows in desperation.

"Everybody Tell the governor, and the Mayor these brothers are in here with no heat no lights they are sick," the rapper captioned the clip. "This is Inhumane!! Come occupy with us at The MDC in Brooklyn."

Meek, who spent five months in prison for a parole violation from the fall of 2017 to April 2018, is all too familiar with cold jail cells and uncomfortable living conditions while being locked up. He retweeted Mysonne's message and spoke on his experience in a couple of tweets Saturday. His new Reform initiative, which he launched alongside Jay-Z, also created social media cards denouncing the inhumane treatment at the prison to spread the word.

"I been thru this sleeping with 2 thermal sets on.. county clothes ....skully..county coat 4 blankets and 4 sheets because half of our window was broken out in the middle or January .. the funny part is I used to get on the phone and not even speak on it," the Philly rapper tweeted on Twitter.

"That was just normal," he continued. "Anybody who was ever locked at 'house of corrections' know about being locked a cell on a 100 degree night with no air conditioning! Real slavery type stuff... I was there I know they don’t care!"

For his part, T.I., who is also familiar with life behind bars, went on his Instagram page and posted the message demanding an end to the "inhumane treatment of our brothers and sisters at MDC Brooklyn Center."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Saturday night that the city are sending trucks with “hundreds of blankets and hand warmers” to the facility, as well as generators.

The New York Times reports that the jail began having power issues around Jan. 5, with the heating issues starting last week. Since then, inmates have been banging on windows in protest. Meanwhile, The Federal Bureau of Prisons issued a statement saying they are currently fixing the problem. "The facility is working to restore power as expeditiously as possible," it reads, adding that the work is expected to be completed by Monday.

Read Meek Mill, T.I. and Mysonne comment on the crisis at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center below.

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