New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was detained for several hours on Tuesday after being arrested at an immigration court, the latest politician opposed to US President Donald Trump’s immigration raids to get caught up with law enforcement.
Lander, who is among 11 Democratic candidates seeking to replace Mayor Eric Adams, was released after New York Governor Kathy Hochul went to the courthouse. She left the building with Lander and said charges against him had been dropped.
Lander, the city’s chief financial officer, said he had been escorting a defendant out of immigration court when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Photo: AFP
He said he was “fine,” only losing a button on his shirt as he was arrested by federal agents.
“The rule of law is not fine and our constitutional democracy is not fine,” Lander said outside the court, adding that families were being separated and immigrants denied due process in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.
“It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment. No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences,” she said.
Lander denied that accusation.
“I certainly did not assault an officer,” he said.
A spokesman for the Manhattan US attorney’s office said it was investigating Lander’s actions at the federal building on Tuesday.
A video posted earlier on Tuesday to Lander’s personal X account showed him being placed in handcuffs and led into an elevator by men in plainclothes, backward baseball caps and masks. One man wore a vest that said “police federal agent.”
“It’s bullshit,” Hochul said when asked by reporters about the arrest.
“How dare they take an elected official who’s been going down there for weeks, to escort people who are afraid to walk into a courthouse in the United States of America,” she said ahead of going to the courthouse.
US Senator Alex Padilla was forced to the ground and handcuffed by security in Los Angeles last week, after trying to ask US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question about ICE raids that led to mass protests in the city.
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