NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.
A reporter with The Associated Press and other journalists witnessed Lander’s arrest at a federal building in Manhattan, the latest confrontation between U.S. agents and a Democratic politician objecting to the Trump administration’s effort to jail and deport mass numbers of immigrants. The immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom was also arrested.
Lander was released from custody after a few hours. The U.S. attorney’s office said it was investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime.
Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter that he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.
In the moments before Lander was handcuffed, agents could be seen trying to physically separate him from the man they had come to detain. Lander struggled to stay close, keeping his arms locked with the man, demanding to see a judicial warrant.
Videos taken by journalists show agents struggling to separate Lander from the man he’d linked arms with for more than 40 seconds before wresting the two apart. Multiple agents then grabbed Lander’s arms and put them behind his back.
“You’re obstructing,” an agent told Lander.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed.
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