The fascism is real, y’all. Current New York City Comptroller and candidate for mayor Brad Lander was arrested by masked federal ICE agents as he exited an immigration courtroom. There’s video of the incident, and it’s deeply chilling, particularly in a so-called democracy.
Lander can be heard in the video saying, “I’m not obstructing – I’m standing right here in the hallway, I asked to see the judicial warrant. You don’t have authority to arrest a U.S. citizen asking for a judicial warrant.” Getting arrested for asking questions is a disturbing new trend for the Trump administration.
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In the midst of promises of “mass deportations” from the administration where ICE is targeting immigration courts for arrests, Lander spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told the AP he was accompanying immigrants out of the building. That’s when Lander was detained by federal agents.
At a press conference following the arrest, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, said her husband had tried to link arms with a man following his immigration court hearing when “we were swarmed by a number of federal agents.”
“They said, ‘You’re obstructing,’” Barnette said. “I was shoved out of the way.”
“What I saw was shocking and unacceptable,” she added. “What I saw today was not the rule of law.”
She continued, “This is a place where the rule of law is supposed to work. I was able to call our attorney and retain him immediately for Brad.”
“Because we have the connections and the means to do so. Nobody else in those courtrooms has that. I am confident that Brad’s going to be out soon … This is just one more example of Brad’s values in actions. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk. He cares about what happens to people.”
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In addition to Mamdani, several of Lander’s opponents in the mayoral contest wasted little time condemning the federal agents for the arrest.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].