WASHINGTON (Reuters) -New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at an immigration court on Tuesday, the latest U.S. politician to be swept up in President Donald Trump’s immigration raids.
Lander, who is among 11 Democratic candidates seeking to replace current Mayor Eric Adams, was shown in a video posted to his personal account on X being placed in handcuffs and led into an elevator by men in plainclothes, backward baseball caps and surgical masks. One man wore a vest that said “police federal agent.”
A post accompanying the video attributed to Lander’s wife said he had been escorting a defendant out of immigration court when he was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant,” Lander says in the video. “You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for judicial warrants.”
Representatives for Lander’s campaign, in a statement echoing the post on X, said the situation was “still developing” and that they were monitoring it closely.
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.
Representatives for the campaign could not be immediately reached for comment on the statement from DHS, which oversees ICE.
In Los Angeles, Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla was forced to the ground and handcuffed by security last week after trying to ask DHS Secretary Kristi Noem a question about the Trump administration’s immigration raids.
Padilla said in remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday that had he had been “pushed and pulled” and was “forced to the ground first on my knees and then flat on my chest.”
The DHS said at the time that Padilla had engaged in “disrespectful political theater”.
ICE raids triggered protests in Los Angeles this month, prompting Trump to send National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into the city, against the wishes of California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
The Trump administration has also charged Democratic U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver over a scuffle at the gate of a privately run immigration detention center on May 9 as lawmakers sought to conduct an oversight visit.
It also arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat now running for New Jersey governor, though it later dropped the case. Baraka has filed a lawsuit over the incident.
Lander, who as comptroller oversees New York City’s budget, cited his visits to immigration courts during a recent debate.
Adams is seeking re-election as an independent after leaving the Democratic Party, and has backed Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The Justice Department dismissed corruption charges against the mayor, saying the case was distracting him from helping Trump step up deportations.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Ted Hesson; additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Donna Bryson and Rosalba O’Brien)
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