NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.
A reporter with The Associated Press and other 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 effort to jail and deport mass numbers of immigrants. The immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom was also arrested.
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.
Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter that he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.
In the moments before Lander was handcuffed, agents could be seen trying to physically separate him from the man they had come to detain. Lander struggled to stay close, keeping his arms locked with the man. Videos taken by journalists show agents struggling to separate Lander from the man he’d linked arms with for more than 40 seconds before wresting the two apart. Multiple agents then grabbed Lander’s arms and put them behind his back.
“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.
“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander said as he was led away down a hallway and into an elevator.
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 told reporters that all he was trying to do was hold the arm of the man who was being detained, in the tradition of “nonviolent witness.”
“I am happy to report that I am just fine. I lost a button,” Lander said after his release.
“I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people,” he added.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said it was investigating Lander’s actions and still deciding whether to prosecute.
The episode occurred as federal immigration officials are conducting large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country. In many cases, immigrants are arrested after a judge grants a government request to dismiss their case, making them eligible for expedited removal.
“They remove any opportunity for due process,” Lander had told reporters earlier in the day after witnessing another person’s hearing.
Lander’s detainment comes a little more than a month after Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge outside a federal immigration detention center in his city.
The charge was later dropped by interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, and Baraka’s fellow Democrat, Rep. LaMonica McIver, was charged with assaulting and impeding federal agents stemming from her role at the same visit as the mayor. A federal indictment charges she grabbed, pushed and blocked officers from arresting the mayor. She’s denied the charges and said she plans to fight them. Baraka filed a federal lawsuit against Habba alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution.
Lander is a candidate in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary. Early voting in the contest is underway and the election is next week. Candidates in the race quickly weighed in to criticize the arrest.
“This is the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump’s ICE out of control — one can only imagine the fear families across our country feel when confronted with ICE,” said former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running in the primary.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, also condemned the arrest, likening it to excrement in a post on X. She later went to the federal building where the arrest happened.
Last week, Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as he tried to speak about immigration raids. On Tuesday, he encouraged more Americans to speak out.
