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Jazmine Headley, whose chaotic arrest at a public benefits office in Brooklyn two months ago sparked a national outcry, testified with tears in her eyes at a City Council hearing Monday, recounting the day that her 1-year-old son was wrested from her arms as she struggled to hold on to him.

“It’s not just the fact that I was arrested. It was the harsh way that I was treated by people who are supposed to help me,” she said, adding later, “In my case, I was just sitting. A peaceful act.”

Video footage of the young mother desperately holding on to her baby went viral on social media and prompted the Council to introduce a package of more than a dozen bills aimed at improving the treatment of people who receive public assistance.

In brief, but emotional, testimony she reminded Council members that she was one of thousands of New Yorkers who go to public benefits offices each day and face long waits, poor service and even disdain from caseworkers, security guards and police officers.