New York City’s top finance official is running for the next mayor, and he was handcuffed and arrested by federal agents while directing the defendant in an immigration court on Tuesday.
An agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Brad Lander, the city’s chief comptroller, “attacked law enforcement and hindered federal officials.” A spokesperson said.
The arrests were a result of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, instructing federal officials to conduct illegal raids and deport immigrants.
Video of the incident shows Landler leading a man through the corridor and asking agents to show a judicial arrest warrant to detain them.
A spokesman for Lander’s campaign said the auditor general escorted the defendants out of the immigration court when he was arrested.
“You have no right to arrest U.S. citizens,” Lander told Ice Agents in the video because they handcuffed him.
But Lander is destroying officials, ICE said.
“Our heroic snow and ice law enforcement officers face 413% of attacks, which is wrong, and politicians seeking higher positions undermine law enforcement security for viral moments,” Homeland Security spokesman Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC. “No one is above the law and if you reach out to law enforcement, you have consequences.”
Lander campaign spokesman Dora Pekec said they are “closely monitoring the situation.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James called the arrest “very unacceptable.”
“The simple act of arresting auditor General Lander defending immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power,” she said in a statement. “No one should face fear and intimidation in the courts, which is a weird escalation of tensions. The government’s rampant sage parties to New Yorkers will only make our communities safer.”
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, called on elected officials and candidates to serve in order to condemn the arrests.
“The arrest of Brad Lander’s ice to raise questions is an abuse and threat to our democratic nation,” Ms. Lieberman said. “The arrest of a public official, the city’s formally elected auditor general, is because raising questions is dangerous intimidation, demonstrating a wanton disregard for the will of the people of New York.
It conveys a clear dictatorial message – Ice doesn’t care about the rule of law, and anyone who exercises a challenge to Ice will be punished, and will be punished. ”
Trump’s immigrant crackdowns include off-road raids and growing deportations, which have also sparked protests against ice days, especially in Los Angeles.
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