New York City mayoral candidate released after shock arrest by masked federal agents

New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander has been released after 'masked agents' controversially arrested him outside an immigration court.

The 55-year-old was placed in handcuffs while accompanying a person out of a courtroom in Manhattan on Tuesday.

He "was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer”, an assistant secretary from the Department of Homeland Security told the Guardian.

Lander denied the accusations and, upon his release, said he "certainly did not” assault an officer.

The city's elected financial watchdog entered 26 Federal Plaza to observe immigration hearings involving individuals marked for potential deportation.

It was his third trip to the public building in the last month, and Lander said he was there to "accompany" immigrants out of the building.

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As Lander and his staff walked out with an immigrant, he was accosted by masked Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) officers, as well as FBI and Treasury Department agents who had their faces covered.

In footage of the arrest shared online, Lander could be heard shouting “show me your warrant, show me your badge", as he was pulled away from the hallway by agents.

The mayoral candidate can also be heard saying: "I will let go if you show me a judicial warrant.

"I would like to see the warrant, and then I will let go.”

Mr Lander asked the agents repeatedly where he was being taken and under what authority.

ICE officers do not have authority to make arrests in immigration courts because they are public spaces.

Mr Lander can also be heard saying: “I’m not obstructing, I am standing right here in the hallway,” he said. “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens asking for a judicial warrant.”

Lander’s wife posted an update on her husband’s Twitter/X account less than an hour after the incident.

"Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad’s wife,” she wrote, adding: “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.”

Zohran Mamdani, a mayoral candidate who also cross-endorsed Lander, called out the arrest on X: “This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.”

Andrew Cuomo, former New York governor and Lander’s mayoral opponent, also slammed the arrest on X: “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.

"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.”

Following Lander's arrest, a demonstration broke out outside 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday afternoon with supporters shouting “free Brad Lander”.

Public entry to the building was closed as protestors held up placards saying “fascist minion” and “immigrants are New York” while surrounded by a tight cordon of police.

Speaking at a press conference after his release, Lander identified the immigrant he was accompanying as “Edgardo” – who had their case dismissed pending appeal earlier in the day.

While Lander said he was "just fine" after the arrest and only "lost a button", this was not the case for Edgardo.

“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,” Lander said.

"We are normalizing family separation. We are normalizing due process rights violations. We are normalizing the destruction of constitutional democracy, and we’re not going to stand by and let it happen."

His arrest comes days after federal agents 'roughed up' California Senator Alex Padilla and handcuffed him on the ground as he was asking questions to Homeland Security Kristi Noem during a press conference about protests in California.

Padilla’s arrest was also widely criticised, with Kamala Harris, the former vice-president, calling the incident “a shameful and stunning abuse of power”.

Trump has reportedly deployed 2,000 additional National Guard troops on top of the 2,000 he sent on the weekend - only 300 of whom were deployed in LA, according to Gavin Newsom.

Donald Trump arrived on stage in Fort Bragg and said: "There is no greater fear than the US army".

He told the crowd "anarchy will not stand" in LA, noting that he has deployed thousands of National Guard troops to protect federal law enforcement from the attacks of a "vicious and violent mob".

He said: "What you are witnessing in California is a full blown assault on peace, public order and national sovereignty carried out by rioters carrying foreign flags with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country."

He called the "open border policy" the "dumbest policy yet".

He added that the rioters don't carry the American flag - they only burn it.

"People that burn the American flag should go to jail for one year," he says.

He added: "Under the Trump administration this anarchy will not stand."

Last week, the president claimed LA was under siege and that the city would be "burning" without the National Guard's support.