New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was detained after an incident inside an immigration court in the city, a spokesperson for his mayoral campaign told NBC News Tuesday.
Kat Capossela, Lander’s press secretary, told NBC News in an email that “Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” a reference to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, after “escorting a defendant out of immigration court.”
Speaking outside the courthouse at a press conference held by his official office, Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, told reporters that Lander remains in custody, but “I am confident that Brad will be out soon.” It’s unclear whether he’s been arrested.
A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees ICE, did not immediately return a request for comment about Lander’s status or if he will face charges.
Lander is running in next week’s Democratic primary for mayor.
In video that Lander’s office shared with NBC News of the aftermath of the incident, he can be seen being handcuffed in the hallway of the building and addressing law enforcement.
“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant,” he said.
“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” he added.
Lander is then led into an elevator with his hands behind his back as an aide can be heard asking, “Where are you taking the Comptroller of the city of New York?”
During her press conference, Barnette echoed Democratic criticisms of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, arguing that judges were dismissing charges against defendants before being turned over to federal agents to begin the process of deporting them.
“This is not the way we deal with rule of law, this is not the way people are treated in the United States,” Barnette, a former attorney, said.
“I feel really rattled and scared, and my husband is a candidate for mayor, is an elected citywide official, is U.S. citizen,” she said. He “has a U.S. passport and I know in all likelihood he is okay. And all of the other folks in that building are risking having their families torn apart with inadequate explanation. And it’s an abomination.”
