Brad Lander arrest ‘political intimidation’, says AOC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called the arrest of Brad Lander “political intimidation”.
The Democratic congresswomen wrote on social media:
ICE just arrested Brad Lander, the NYC Comptroller and one of the leading candidates for Mayor, without grounds. He was conducting routine immigration court work, escorting individuals from hearings. He asked ICE for their warrant – well within his legal rights. This is political intimidation.
Key events
Brad Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, has posted again from his X account to say that he is still in Ice custody. She says a gathering has formed in Federal Plaza.
Hi, it’s Meg again. Brad is still in ICE custody.
We are grateful to the many friends, supporters, and allies who have gathered in Federal Plaza.
Together we are standing up for those with no voice. pic.twitter.com/lYUqF8vmIA
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) June 17, 2025
New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander was ‘arrested for assaulting law enforcement’, says DHS
On the arrest of New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Guardian Lander had been arrested for “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer”.
McLaughlin said:
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.
Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them — 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.
Here is the moment federal agents arrested the New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander at a federal building in Manhattan.
He had spent the morning there observing immigration hearings and told an AP reporter he had intended to accompany some immigrants out of the building.
Footage of the arrest shows an agent telling Lander: “You’re obstructing.” Lander replies: “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens asking for a judicial warrant” as he was led into an elevator.
‘Wake up’: Padilla warns that Trump’s treatment of California’s immigrants is a ‘test case’ for what he could do to any American
Lauren Gambino
The “proud” son of immigrants from Mexico, and the first Latino elected to the senate from California, the US state with the largest population of immigrants – documented and undocumented – US senator Alex Padilla has been a champion for immigrant communities.
On Tuesday, he warned that Trump was once again scapegoating immigrants to “justify his undemocratic crackdowns and his authoritarian power grabs”.
“I refuse to let immigrants be political pawns on his path towards fascism,” Padilla said.
He warned that what was happening to immigrants in California was just a “test case” for what Trump could do to any American anywhere in the country.
It’s time to wake up.
If Donald Trump can bypass the governor and activate the national guard to put down protests on immigrant rights, suppress your rights too.
If he can deploy the marines to Los Angeles without justification, he can deploy them to your state too.
And if you can ignore due process, strip away first amendment rights and disappear people to foreign prisons without their day in court, he can do it to you too.
He urged Americans to keep peacefully protesting and speaking out.
No one’s going to liberate Los Angeles but Angelenos. No one will redeem America but Americans.
Lauren Gambino
Alex Padilla, speaking on the Senate floor, grew emotional as he described being “forced to the ground, first on my knees and then flat on my chest”.
“I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway repeatedly asking, ‘Why am I being detained?’ Not once did they tell me why? I pray you never have a moment like this,” Padilla said. Questions rushed into his head: “What will my wife think? What will our boys think?”
What about the city – militarized against the wishes of the governor and local enforcement, already on edge and furious at what is happening to their immigrant neighbors – what would they think when they saw the video of their Senator being handcuffed and marched away?
He appealed to his Senate colleagues, noting that none of them, regardless of their party, would consider him a “flamethrower”.
“If you watched what unfolded last week and thought what happened is just about one politician and one press conference missing the point,” he said. “If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States senator for having the authority to simply ask a question, imagine what they’ll do to any American who dares to speak up.”
As he spoke from Capitol Hill, Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller and mayoral candidate, was arrested by masked federal agents while visiting an immigration court and accompanying a person out of a courtroom.
Brad Lander arrest ‘political intimidation’, says AOC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called the arrest of Brad Lander “political intimidation”.
The Democratic congresswomen wrote on social media:
ICE just arrested Brad Lander, the NYC Comptroller and one of the leading candidates for Mayor, without grounds. He was conducting routine immigration court work, escorting individuals from hearings. He asked ICE for their warrant – well within his legal rights. This is political intimidation.
‘I was compelled to speak up’: Alex Padilla recounts shocking moment he was removed from Noem press conference
Lauren Gambino
While we were reporting on the arrest of mayoral candidate Brad Lander in New York, an emotional Alex Padilla took to the Senate floor to recount, for the record, the shocking moment when he was restrained and forcibly removed by federal agents as he tried to ask a question at a press conference held by homeland security secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles last week.
The US senator from California said he was at the federal building to receive a briefing from the US Northern Command’s General Gregory Guillot on the deployment of marines to the city as part of the administration’s attempt to quell protests against Ice raids. Padilla said he was met at the entrance by a national guardsmen and an FBI agent and was escorted through a security screening and into the conference room where the briefing would take place.
When he learned Noem was holding a press conference “literally down the hall” – and that it was the reason his own briefing was delayed – he said he asked to attend. He and his Democratic senate colleagues had submitted several informational requests to DHS that had gone unanswered and he thought he might learn something new from Noem.
“I didn’t just stand up and go. I asked and was escorted by the national guardsmen and the FBI agent into the press conference. They opened the door for me,” Padilla said. “They accompanied me into the press briefing room, and they stood next to me as I stood there for a while listening.”
Padilla said he listened until Noem claimed that the Trump administration was determined to “liberate” Los Angeles. At that point, he said he could no longer remain silent and interrupted with a question.
“I was compelled, both as a senator and as an American, to speak up,” Padilla said. “But before I could even get out my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator, and I had a question for the secretary, and even as the National Guardsmen and the FBI agent who served as my escorts brought me into that press briefing room, stood by silently, knowing full well who I was.”
“If this administration is this afraid of just one senator, with a question,” Padilla said in closing, “imagine what the voices of 10s of millions of Americans peacefully protesting can do.”
New York senator condemns Lander’s arrest
Democratic New York state senator Gustavo Rivera has called Brad Lander’s arrest “another example of fascist overreach from Ice”.
Another example of fascist overreach from ICE and exactly the type of courage needed at this time from those of us who can stand against it.@bradlander stands up for ALL New Yorkers, and so should we all. https://t.co/THA7qYyfAk
— Gustavo Rivera (@NYSenatorRivera) June 17, 2025
A reporter with The Associated Press witnessed New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s arrest by Ice agents at a federal building in Manhattan as he was trying to accompany a person out of a courtroom.
The person Lander was walking out of the courtroom was also arrested.
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.
A video of the arrest, captured by an AP reporter, shows an agent telling Lander: “You’re obstructing.”
In the moments before Lander was handcuffed, agents could be seen trying to physically separate Lander from the man they had come to detain. Lander briefly struggled to stay close to the detainee before he was pulled away.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed.“You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander said as he was led away down a hallway and into an elevator.
One of the officers who led Lander away wore a tactical vest labeled “federal agent.” Others were in plainclothes, with surgical masks over their faces.
The episode occurred as federal immigration officials are conducting large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country.
Emailed inquiries to the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were not immediately returned.
Lander is a candidate in the city’s Democratic mayoral primary. Early voting in the contest is underway.
In a statement, Lander’s campaign said: “While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE.”
Texas congressman says Lander arrest illegal and outrageous
Democratic representative Greg Casar, of Texas, called Lander’s arrest illegal and “outrageous” and called for his immediate release.
Masked federal agents just illegally arrested New York City’s elected Comptroller. Outrageous.
The Trump Administration went after Brad Lander for asking this simple question: “Do you have a warrant?”
By asking this question, Brad was standing up for the basic rights of all…
— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) June 17, 2025
In this video posted to X by a NY1 reporter, it is apparent that New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander was cuffed and detained by masked federal agents after asking to see a warrant for someone he was escorting from an immigration hearing.
New York City mayor candidate Mamdani says Lander arrest is ‘fascism’
Fellow New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has called the arrest of Brad Lander because he asked to see a judicial warrant “fascism” and called for his immediate release.
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was just arrested by Trump’s ICE agents because he asked to see a judicial warrant.
This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now. https://t.co/24rfwmIp5S
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 17, 2025
Here is a clip showing the arrest posted on Brad Lander’s X account. Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, says that while escorting a defendant out of immigration court Lander was detained by federal agents.
He can be seen asking the masked agents if they have a judicial warrant and can he see it. “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens,” he says. “I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant.”
Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad’s wife.
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 our team is monitoring the situation closely. pic.twitter.com/jekaDFjsT1
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) June 17, 2025
