'Love & Hip Hop' star Yandy Smith pepper-sprayed while protesting Brooklyn detention center without heat

Lauren Holter
Protesters help Yandy Smith, who was pepper-sprayed after she and others stormed the entrance to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Feb. 3, 2019. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)
Protesters help Yandy Smith, who was pepper-sprayed after she and others stormed the entrance to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Feb. 3, 2019. (Photo: Kathy Willens/AP)

Love & Hip Hop star Yandy Smith was pepper-sprayed on Sunday while protesting outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Fox 5 News’ Lisa Evers first reported on social media. Inmates at the federal detention center went days without power or heat.

Smith’s Instagram Stories showed her and other protesters demanding to be let inside the detention center and asking why the power was out. In a later post, she said her eyes were “on fire” and that she couldn’t breathe after being pepper-sprayed and thrown to the floor. She showed a canister of pepper spray that was thrown on the floor, telling her followers, “Y’all know I’m not violent.”

“I’m OK. I’m alive. But we got work to do. We got serious work to do,” she said in an Instagram Story.

Officials said power was restored at the detention center Sunday night, CBS News reported.

“In the coming days, the [Justice] 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,” said Wyn Hornbuckle, deputy director of public affairs for the Justice Department, per CBS.

After the power was restored and the protests ended, Smith took to Instagram to celebrate the victory. She was still in pain, though, and asked if anybody knew how to get pepper spray out of your chest. While she recovered, her fans thanked her for taking action and standing up for inmates’ rights.

View this post on Instagram

YESSSSS YESSSSSSSSSS YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! We see lights!!! Lights are on!! We did it! @tamikadmallory @jamilatdavis @trife_gangsta @mysonnenygeneral @bonded4ever. Hope this means the heat is on too. We won’t leave until we have that confirmation. @omereandskylar mommy and @therealinfiniti_ be home soon❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ . . . IF YOU’VE WATCHED MY LIVE OR HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING ME FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS YOU’VE SEEN TAMIKA @tamikadmallory LEAD THE WAY AT EVERY MARCH AND EVERY RALLY. I WAS OUT THERE TODAY BECAUSE SHE CALLED!!!!!. I WAS OUT THERE TODAY BECAUSE SHE SAID SIS I NEED YOU!!!!!! THIS IS HER FULL TIME JOB FOR THE PAST 20YRS. SHE IS BLACK HISTORY! FOR ALL OF YOU ASKING HOW YOU CAN HELP. YOU CAN HELP ME BY HELPING HER. YOU CAN HELP US AS A PEOPLE BY HELPING HER! SHE EATS WHEN WE FEED HER! AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE SHES GOOD SO SHES ABLE TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT. $1, $2, $3 WHAT EVER YOU CAN SPARE SEND! NEXT IT COULD BE YOU GETTING BEAT AT A WAFFLE HOUSE, DRAGGED OFF A PLANE, YOUR SON, FATHER OR BROTHER SHOT MURDERED, YOUR FAMILY MEMBER FREEZING TO DEATH IN A CELL. SHES THE ONE THAT ORGANIZES AND LEADS THE WAY TO JUSTICE. LETS COME TOGETHER AND STORE UP FUNDS AND SUPPORT OUR REAL LIFE LEADER. I MEAN BOOTS ON GROUND, KNOCKING ON PEOPLES DOOR, SLEEPING OUTSIDE IN THE COLD LEADER!!!! ACTIVIST DON’T GET PAID, THEY ARE ABLE TO DO THE WORK ONLY WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY. SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE REACHED OUT TO ME ASKING WHAT THEY COULD DO OR GIVE. WELL SHES BEEN DOING THIS FOR 20YRS. PLEASE GIVE TO HER PERSONALLY! HELP ME BY DONATING TO HER WELL BEING!! TAMIKA CAN TELL YOU HOW TO DONATE TO HER ORGANIZATION BUT TODAY LETS SUPPORT HER PERSONALLY!!! CASHAPP $TAMIKAMAL CASHAPP $TAMIKAMAL Paypal.Me/TamikaMallory ZELLE Tmallory@malloryconsulting.net

A post shared by Yandy Smith-Harris (@yandysmith) on Feb 3, 2019 at 3:51pm PST

“They never should have cut it off!!!! Great job!! Y’all didn’t deserve to go thru whatcha did!” one person commented on Instagram.

The reality TV star told People magazine last year that she fights for social justice because she wants to set a good example for her two kids.

“I want my children to understand that we can absolutely teach about the injustices, but to really be change agents against these injustices you have to get out there and move with the people,” Smith said.

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