Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller who is running for mayor, was arrested on Tuesday (18 June) by federal agents at an immigration courthouse in Lower Manhattan as he tried to escort a migrant whom agents were seeking to arrest.
HDN Newsroom
Journalists witnessed Lander’s arrest at a federal building in Manhattan, the latest confrontation between U.S. agents and a Democratic politician objecting to the Trump administration’s mass detention and deportation programs.
Lander was released from custody after a few hours. The U.S. attorney’s office said it was investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime. The immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom was also arrested.
Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.
His confrontation with agents unfolded quickly. As a group of agents moved in to detain a man who had exited a courtroom, Lander locked arms with the immigrant and demanded to see a judicial warrant. For more than 40 seconds, agents tried to physically separate the two, pulling both men down the hall in a chaotic scrum as photographers snapped photos.
“You’re obstructing,” an agent told Lander.
“I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed.
In a statement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.”
After his release, Lander exited the building holding hands with his wife and accompanied by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to the cheers of a gathered crowd. He told reporters all he was trying to do was hold the arm of the man being detained and “certainly did not” assault an officer.
