New York City’s comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by masked federal agents while visiting an immigration court Tuesday.
Photos and video from the chaotic scene outside a federal immigration court show Lander being roughly manhandled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Lander had made an appearance at 26 Federal Plaza to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation. According to The Associated Press, who witnessed the arrest, Lander was trying to accompany a person out of a courtroom when he was taken into custody.
New York City comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova / The Associated Press
At a press conference following the arrest, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, said her husband had tried to link arms with a man following his immigration court hearing when “we were swarmed by a number of federal agents.”
“They said, ‘You’re obstructing,’” Barnette said. “I was shoved out of the way.”
“What I saw was shocking and unacceptable,” she added. “What I saw today was not the rule of law.”
The person Lander was walking out of the courtroom was also arrested.
“While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad Lander was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” Lander spokesperson Dora Pekec said. “This is still developing and we are monitoring the situation closely.”
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Video of the arrest, captured by several news outlets, shows an agent telling Lander, “You’re obstructing.”
Before he was handcuffed, agents were seen trying to physically separate the two men as Lander tried to stay close to the other man.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see a judicial warrant,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed. He asked multiple times to see a warrant, as shown in the footage.
New York City comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova / The Associated Press
“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.
Photos from the scene show officers in various types of clothing. One is wearing a tactical vest with the label “federal agent.” Others are wearing civilian clothing with surgical masks covering their faces.
The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital that Lander is charged with assaulting or impeding a federal officer.
“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,” former New York Governor and NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo wrote on X. “Fear of separation, fear of being taken from their schools, fear of being detained without just cause. This is not who we are. This must stop, and it must stop now.”
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 is a candidate in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary. Early voting in the contest is underway and the election is next week.
— With files from The Associated Press
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