Jewish NYC Mayoral candidate and city comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by ICE outside a federal immigration court on Tuesday for as yet unknown reasons, his wife Meg Barnette and his mayoral campaign team confirmed.
In the videos of the incident, he can be heard repeatedly asking ICE officers "do you have a judicial warrant?" and "can I see the judicial warrant."
As they handcuff him, he can be heard repeatedly telling the officers, "You don't have the authority to arrest us citizens."
ICE is in charge of enforcing immigration laws against non-citizens and typically lacks the authority to arrest US citizens except in extenuating circumstances, such as in the case of reasonable suspicion of immigration violations. It is not clear what led to Lander's arrest, as he is a US citizen with no known immigration issues.
Lander's spokeswoman, Dora Pekec, said while escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad Lander was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE.”
“This is still developing, and we are monitoring the situation closely.”
Lander was at the court to observe immigration proceedings after President Trump’s recent call for ICE to target New York City, according to the New York Post.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Lander's wife said, "My husband is a US citizen with a US passport."
"I know in all likelihood he is going to be okay," she added, but said that other families facing ICE in the courts may not have the same confidence. "It's an abomination, this is not the rule of law," she said.
Charged with assaulting or impeding a federal officer
DHS told Fox News Digital that Lander is charged with assaulting or impeding a federal officer.
"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," NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo wrote on X.
"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."
Mayoral candidates Scott Stringer and Zohran Kwame Mamdani also called for Lander's release.
"The recent politicization of federal immigration authorities under the Trump administration is disturbing and shameful," Stringer wrote.
"I call for Brad to be released immediately. I hope to see him out on the campaign trail soon."