New York City comptroller Brad Lander arrested at immigration court hearing

Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and mayoral candidate, has been arrested by masked federal agents while visiting an immigration court and accompanying a person out of a courtroom.

Lander’s campaign spokesperson confirmed to Fox5NY that Lander was indeed arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) at immigration court.

On Tuesday, Lander appeared at 26 Federal Plaza to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation.

Lander reportedly told an AP reporter that he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building. Tuesday’s trip to an immigration court was Lander’s third trip over the last month.

He was arrested, according to video footage of the incident, as he and his staff walked with an immigrant who had their case dismissed pending appeal earlier in the day, per AMNY. The immigrant Lander was walking out of the courtroom with was also arrested.

Additional footage of the arrest shows Lander telling immigration officials: “I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant.

“You don‘t have the authority to arrest US citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander can be heard saying.

The officials, two of which were wearing masks, then pinned Lander to a wall and put him in handcuffs. It remains unclear why he was arrested.

Lander’s wife posted an update on her husband’s X account less than an hour after the incident took place.

“Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad’s wife,” she wrote, adding: “While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE. This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely.”

Lander’s team echoed the remarks from Barnette in a statement to the Guardian.

Ice did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.

In a news conference after the arrest, Barnette said she was “extraordinarily proud” of her husband and told reporters: “What I saw was shocking and unacceptable. What I saw today was not the rule of law.”

Masked agents from several federal agencies were seen lining the halls of 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday morning, including Ice, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the FBI and the treasury department, per reporters on the scene from The City.

Video and news of the arrest made the rounds on social media almost immediately after it happened.

Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral candidate who also cross-endorsed Lander, called out the arrest on X: “This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.”

Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo founder and Guardian contributor, shared Mamdani’s sentiment, writing on X: “Yet another elected Democratic official violently arrested and detained by Trump’s ICE Gestapo. This isn’t frog in boiling water. This fascism is happening quickly, clearly, brazenly.”

Greg Casar, a Texas congressman, said of the arrest: “Masked federal agents just illegally arrested New York City’s elected Comptroller. Outrageous. The Trump Administration went after Brad Lander for asking this simple question: ‘Do you have a warrant?’ By asking this question, Brad was standing up for the basic rights of all Americans. Brad should be released immediately, and we should all follow his heroic example.”

Julia Salazar, a New York state senator, called the arrest “more evidence that Ice agents are flagrantly breaking the law”.

“[Lander] knows his rights, and he was speaking up for the rights of others. Ice agents responded by unlawfully arresting him and refusing to answer basic questions,” she said.

Lander’s arrest comes as federal immigration officials continue to make arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the US. As the Guardian reported on Sunday, between early January, right before the inauguration, and June, there has been an 807% increase in the arrest of immigrants with no criminal record.

The arrest also bore similarities to that of Alex Padilla, a Democratic California senator and vocal critic of the Trump administration’s immigration polices, who was forcibly removed and handcuffed as he attempted to ask a question at a press conference held by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, in Los Angeles last week.

Much like the criticism of Lander’s arrest, Padilla’s arrest was widely lambasted, with Kamala Harris, the former vice-president, calling the incident “a shameful and stunning abuse of power”.