NYC Comptroller Brad Lander acquitted after ICE facility protest arrest at Federal Plaza
Sep 18, 2025 · New York, New York
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested during a civil disobedience protest inside 26 Federal Plaza in September 2025, where ICE maintains holding cells for recently detained immigrants. Lander and 10 state lawmakers were taken into custody while demanding access to detention cells to draw attention to conditions at the facility. Federal prosecutors offered to drop obstruction charges if Lander avoided arrest in federal buildings for six months, but he rejected the plea deal while the lawmakers accepted. Lander proceeded to a bench trial, stating he took the case to trial to insist that the rule of law apply to all people facing removal proceedings. He was found not guilty of obstructing elevators and the elevator lobby at 26 Federal Plaza.
Sources
More incidents in New York
- Brooklyn restaurant owner loses half staff as Haiti TPS endsAug 27, 2026 · Brooklyn, NY
- Guatemalan man restrained by ICE agents inside New York laundromatAug 22, 2026 · NY
- Colombian father detained after ICE ambushes his car in QueensAug 21, 2026 · College Point, NY
- Guatemalan man tackled and detained by ICE while eating outside NY homeAug 21, 2026 · New Rochelle, NY
- ICE detains three men in Syracuse stop, one tasered while resistingAug 20, 2026 · Syracuse, NY
- Mexican man detained by ICE while walking home in New Rochelle, NYAug 20, 2026 · New Rochelle, NY