Brad Lander, the city comptroller and mayoral hopeful, was arrested by ICE agents in Manhattan immigration court on Tuesday. Lander has been visiting the federal court in recent days to escort immigrants amid the recent crackdown by the Trump administration that has featured arrests at courthouses.

In [a] video taken by NY1 reporter Courtney Gross, Lander is seen in a hallway escorting a man whose case was reportedly dismissed after a hearing. As ICE agents approach, Lander locks arms with the man and asks for agents’ badge numbers and to see a warrant for the man’s arrest.

“Do you have a judicial warrant? I will let go if you have a judicial warrant,” Lander says.

Agents then grabbed Lander and handcuffed him, saying that he was obstructing the proceedings. “You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,” Lander shouted before he was taken away in an elevator along with several of the masked agents. The New York Post reports that he is being held on a charge of obstruction of governmental administration.

The City reports one agent was overheard saying to another minutes before Lander’s arrest, “Do you want to arrest the comptroller?”

“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 we are monitoring the situation closely,” said a campaign spokesperson for Lander.

Lander was accompanied by his wife, Meg Barnette, who told reporters following his arrest that they were quickly “swarmed” by federal agents as the comptroller escorted a man through the courthouse hallway after his immigration hearing. This was Lander’s third time observing hearings in recent weeks.

“They said, ‘You’re obstructing,’” Barnette said, per the Associated Press. “I was shoved out of the way.”

Zohran Mamdani, Lander’s rival for mayor who he recently cross-endorsed in the race, immediately called for his release.

Lander’s arrest comes one week before the Democratic primary, with early voting already underway. A progressive, his campaign has lacked the sort of grassroots excitement propelling Mamdani into second place in most polls behind Andrew Cuomo. Last week, Lander received a quasi-endorsement by the New York Times’ editorial page as the best candidate to be mayor.

Lander is just the latest Democratic politician to have been accosted by federal immigration authorities in recent weeks. Last month, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside a ICE facility in Newark after agents briefly clashed with assembled protesters and politicians who traveled to observe the premises. Out of that incident came future charges for Representative LaMonica McIver who federal prosecutors alleges assaulted agents on the scene that day. Last week, California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a local press conference for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and handcuffed after he tried to ask her a question.

ETA:

NYC mayoral candidate is arrested at immigration court after linking arms with man being detained

The federal régime continues to use the full power of the state to criminalize any opposition to the [neo]fascist disappearance machine. One of this week’s most high profile instances involves Brad Lander, NYC Comptroller and not-disgraced mayoral candidate being roughed up and handcuffed inside immigration court, when he linked arms with a man he was accompanying as ICE tried to take the man away. Lander later emphasized that he himself was fine, but that the other man did not have a lawyer and likely would spend the night in a detention center.

The people arresting Lander and the other man carried no badges nor did they identify themselves in any way. No one is exempt from ICE terror.

Our comrades at Jews for Racial & Economic Justice have endorsed Lander, as well as Zohran Mamdani, and our co-held immigrant justice working group is out at courtwatches. If you’re in New York, get involved by joining canvasses or registering your interest in the immigrant justice working group.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action.)