State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) says he was pepper-sprayed and handcuffed during the protests that erupted at the Barclays Center Friday night over the death of George Floyd.

Senator Myrie tweeted the pictures of him being restrained and pepper-sprayed in the face as he joined the Brooklyn protests.

Pain. pic.twitter.com/5ZPPTGTUfP

— Senator Zellnor Y. Myrie 米维 (@zellnor4ny) May 30, 2020

Myrie said that police brutality is in the DNA of this country and its roots go back decades.

The senator says that without accountability and consequences for misconduct, he believes that there will be more chaos that could be observed in the community.

The Senator said:

Our people that look like me have been the subject of that brutality so this is while we lift up George Floyd’s life. This isn’t just about him. This isn’t just about Eric Garner. This isn’t just about… what our community has to bare. We just have cameras now.

The New York Police Department said that over 200 people were arrested during the protests in Brooklyn.

It is reported that multiple police officers sustained injuries during the protests.

The death of George Floyd, a black man, has sparked protests across the country.

Senator Zellnor Myrie joined the peaceful protestors in New York City on Friday night when he got struck with an officer’s bicycle.

The senator explained:

Their bikes, they’re hitting us in our legs and our backs. I’m getting shoved, I’m getting pushed. I’m getting yelled at, and I’m trying to tell them that I’m doing what they’re asking me to do. I’m moving back while I’m also trying to shield some of the people behind me, because of us getting hit, so we’re trying to move back. And in that, me moving back and getting hit, I was then sprayed and there was an officer there that said ‘Cuff him, cuff him.’ Both my hands were grabbed and as you may have seen in the picture, I’m yelling because my eyes were on fire and I have no idea why I have been put in zip ties.

Once officers in-charge realized who Senator Myrie was, they released him from custody right away.