New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was briefly detained on Tuesday after being arrested at an immigration court during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration raids. Lander, one of 11 Democrats running to replace Mayor Eric Adams, was released after New York Governor Kathy Hochul intervened. She escorted him from the courthouse, calling the arrest “bullshit.”
Lander said he was escorting an immigrant defendant out of court when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested him. He denied allegations made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that he assaulted officers and impeded a federal agent. “I certainly did not assault an officer,” Lander said, adding that only a shirt button was lost during the incident.
Video footage posted to social media showed Lander being handcuffed and led away by plainclothes federal agents. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan confirmed it is investigating Lander’s actions. Hochul criticized the arrest, defending Lander’s presence at the courthouse as part of a longstanding effort to support immigrants facing deportation.
The incident is the latest in a series of clashes between Democratic politicians and Trump’s immigration enforcement push. U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was recently tackled and handcuffed while questioning DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles. Representative LaMonica McIver faces charges over a May 9 scuffle at an immigration detention center. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also arrested but later cleared; he is now suing over the incident.
Mayor Eric Adams, now an independent, supports Trump’s immigration crackdown. The Justice Department dropped earlier corruption charges against Adams, citing his importance in aiding federal deportation efforts.
This escalating conflict underscores the political divide over immigration enforcement and civil liberties in the U.S.