[UPDATED] NYC Comptroller Brad Lander Arrested by Masked Federal Agents While Escorting Immigrant from Court

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has been released from federal detention after he was arrested by federal agents while attempting to escort a defendant from immigration court on Tuesday afternoon.

Lander appeared before the press just before 4:30 p.m., about four hours after his arrest. "I'm happy to report I am just fine," he said. "I lost a button, but I'm gonna sleep in my bed tonight safe with my family."

Comptroller Lander had linked arms with a man whose case had just been dismissed by the federal government—a Trump administration tactic that allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to arrest and begin deporting migrants with pending asylum cases—when they were approached by federal agents in the hallway of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.

A video shows the federal officers, some wearing masks and one of them in a Yankees cap, begin ripping the man from Lander's grasp. The comptroller repeatedly demands to see the judicial warrant for the man's arrest, and then is himself detained. "Take him in! Take him in! Take him in!" one of the agents yells.

"I asked to see the judicial warrant," Lander repeatedly tells the agents. "You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens."

Lander is then loaded into an elevator, along with a member of his NYPD security detail, which he receives as a citywide elected official.

"Do you want to arrest the Comptroller?" one agent told another, according to the CITY's Gwynne Hogan, who was there.

This is the third time that Lander, who is in the midst of a mayoral campaign, has gone to federal immigration court to escort immigrants to and from their court hearings. The other two occasions were uneventful, and Lander was able to walk people out of the building and into the subway.

Lander's wife Meg Barnette was with him when he was arrested.

"My husband is a candidate for mayor, is an elected citywide official, is a U.S. citizen, has a U.S. passport, and I know in all likelihood he's gonna be OK," Barnette told reporters outside of 26 Federal Plaza after the arrest Tuesday. "And all of the other folks in that building are risking having their families torn apart without adequate explanation."

She added, "It's an abomination, and it is not what we stand for in this country. It is not right. This is a place where the rule of law is supposed to work."

Queens State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who cross-endorsed Lander last week, also showed up to support Lander:

Hell Gate asked Mamdani if he was planning on accompanying immigrants to their hearings, or if he called on any other politicians to do the same.

"I think that this is an example of how we can stand up for immigrant New Yorkers," he replied, "and I think that I've admired what Brad has been doing and his willingness to put his body on the line for those same New Yorkers."

Earlier on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security emailed Hell Gate a statement attributed to Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, stating that Lander was arrested for "assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer."

"Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413 percent increase in assaults against them—it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment," McLaughlin said. "No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences." Hell Gate's question about whether the arresting agents had a judicial warrant went unanswered.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said it was "continuing to investigate" Lander's actions at 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday. SDNY public affairs chief Nicholas Biase told Hell Gate the Department of Justice prosecutes violations of federal law, which includes assaults on law enforcement and other public official, destruction of property and obstruction of official proceedings.

"The safety and security of official proceedings, government officials, law enforcement officers, and all members of the public who participate in them is a core focus of our Office," Biase said.

Mayor Eric Adams did not appear at immigration court, or make a personal statement, but his press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, provided the following statement to Hell Gate:

"Today should not be about Brad Lander. It’s about making sure all New Yorkers—regardless of their documentation status—feel safe enough to use public resources, like dialing 911, sending their kids to school, going to the hospital, or attending court appearances, and do not instead hide in the shadows."

However, Governor Kathy Hochul did arrive on the scene just before 3:30 p.m. to support Lander, where she entered the federal immigration court building. Within an hour, she was on the street with Lander himself at her side. "To my knowledge, there are no charges. The charges have been dropped," she said. "He walks out of here a free man."

After being released from custody, Lander looked in good spirits. "I'm grateful to hear that the charges are not being brought, but if they are, I've got a lawyer. I don't have to worry about my due process rights."

Lander then gave more context to the circumstances before he was detained. "At that elevator," he explained, "I was separated from someone named Edgardo, who I had just met a couple of minutes earlier. Edgardo is in ICE detention and he's not going to sleep in his bed tonight. So far as I know, he has no lawyer.

"He has been stripped of his due process rights by a government and a judge that owe him a credible fear hearing before they deport him and yet have decided instead to strip folks like Edgardo and the gentleman that I walked out with—whose native language is Yoruba, and he only got a translator in French. So when the judge said, Do you understand what it means that after I dismiss your case, you'll have no status? He said, 'No status?' He recognized what was about to happen." 

"So I will be fine," Lander continued, "but Edgardo is not going to be fine, and the rule of law is not fine, and our constitutional democracy is not fine." 

Earlier, outside 26 Federal Plaza, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams praised Lander's advocacy, and called on his fellow mayoral candidates, as well as current mayor Eric Adams, to "condemn his arrest and demand Brad’s release."

He also spoke sharply against the ICE arrests roiling the city. "We should not just abide by immoral orders from an immoral president. They are kidnapping our neighbors off of the street," Williams said. "They are bamboozling them. They are tricking them to tell them to come here and something good will happen. And when they hear the court news, they believe something good has happened, and then they're faced with people in fatigues with masks on their faces and they're taken, having not understood even what just happened legally, and what their recourse is."

"That is something that we all have to stand up against, and I'm so proud to call Brad a friend," Williams added. "So I thank him. There's a lot of leaders in this city, I hope they all step up."

Several of Lander's fellow mayoral candidates also showed up in his support. Scott Stringer commended Lander's advocacy, telling a gaggle of reporters that Lander "didn't just talk the talk, today he walked the walk, and I wanna praise him for that."

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams condemned Trump and the way ICE is operating in New York and around the country. "This is disgusting," she said. "This is not law, this is lawlessness. This is what our country has devolved to under Donald Trump. Enough... No one should be subjected to this inhumane treatment."

And Michael Blake said that the candidates present were not there to stump, but to support Lander and those taken by ICE. "What's happening to New Yorkers, what's happening to Americans, is unconstitutional. It's inhumane, it's unacceptable, and we won't tolerate it," said Blake. "Let's be very clear: We are not here as candidates, we're here as New Yorkers. We're here to do what's right. Brad asked a very clear question: 'You do not have a judicial warrant. Why are you here?' We are not going to be silent as Trump and his clowns continue to break the law. ICE has no damn business here."

Zellnor Myrie, a State Senator and mayoral candidate, also made his way to the courthouse. "I'm a lawyer, and I'm going to give you the legal term for what's happening," he said. "It's fucking ridiculous."

Andrew Cuomo did not appear at immigration court on Tuesday, but he did post a note to X: "This is the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump's ICE out of control—one can only imagine the fear families across our country feel when confronted with ICE," he wrote. "Fear of separation, fear of being taken from their schools, fear of being detained without just cause. This is not who we are. This must stop, and it must stop now."