Brad Lander arrest ‘political intimidation’, says AOC
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called the arrest of Brad Lander “political intimidation”.
The Democratic congresswomen wrote on social media:
ICE just arrested Brad Lander, the NYC Comptroller and one of the leading candidates for Mayor, without grounds. He was conducting routine immigration court work, escorting individuals from hearings. He asked ICE for their warrant – well within his legal rights. This is political intimidation.
Key events
Trump’s meeting in the Situation Room with his national security team has come to an end, after more than an hour, CNN and Reuters are reporting.
Kathy Hochul has been in Federal Plaza speaking to Brad Lander’s wife Meg Barnette. She posted this photo to X saying: “New York will not back down.”
The New York governor earlier called Lander’s arrest by federal agents at an immigration court “bullshit”.
The day so far
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Donald Trump has spent much of the day so far weighing his military options, demanding an “unconditional surrender” from Tehran and threatening Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei. He said that the US is aware of Khamenei’s location and he’s an “easy target”, but said “we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now”. “Our patience is wearing thin,” he warned. Trump had earlier said he was not seeking a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Iran but instead wants to see “a real end” to Iran’s nuclear programme, with Tehran abandoning it “entirely”. You can follow our live coverage on the crisis in the Middle East here.
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New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was dramatically arrested by masked agents while visiting an immigration court and accompanying a person out of a courtroom. The incident has been condemned by New York politicians who have called Lander’s arrest “political intimidation”, “fascism”, and “a shocking abuse of power”. The DHS said Lander “was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer”. He is still in custody at the time of writing.
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It comes less than a week after US senator Alex Padilla was restrained and forcibly removed from a press conference when he tried to ask DHS secretary Kristi Noem a question in LA. Recounting that incident on the Senate floor today, Padilla urged Americans to “wake up”, and warned that what was happening to immigrants in California was just a “test case” for what Trump could do to any American anywhere in the country.
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Over 48 hours after a Minnesota state lawmaker was killed and another injured in a “politically motivated assassination”, Donald Trump was still refusing to call the state’s governor, Tim Walz, as a president usually would under the circumstances.
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Fewer than 10% of immigrants arrested by Ice this fiscal year have serious criminal convictions like rape, murder, assault or robbery CNN reported. According to Ice records, three-quarters had no criminal convictions beyond immigration or traffic offenses.
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The NAACP said it will not invite Donald Trump to its annual convention next month, the first time the 116-year-old civil rights organization has not asked a sitting US president to attend its convention.
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A CBS News investigation found that two-thirds of counties that have lost funding from Fema’s storm preparation program supported Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
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Bernie Sanders endorsed the leftwing New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in the latest boost to his insurgent campaign. Sanders, a senator from Vermont and a powerful figure on the Democratic party’s progressive left, said: “At this dangerous moment in history, status quo politics isn’t good enough. We need new leadership that is prepared to stand up to powerful corporate interests and fight for the working class.”
Earlier we brought you reported comments from Kathy Hochul, now the New York governor has reiterated her view on X.
New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, who ran as a Democrat in 2021 and is seeking re-election as an independent candidate – and has been widely attacked by Democrats for his close relationship with Donald Trump – has so far yet to comment on the arrest of Brad Lander.
But his former chief of staff, Frank Carone, one of his top allies and advisers, has implied that it was a stunt, posting on X a photo of Lander being arrested with the caption: “Academy award goes to …”
His language echoes the statement from DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin who earlier told the Guardian: “It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment.”
Lander’s arrest is latest example of ‘extreme thuggery of Trump’s Ice out of control’, says Cuomo
Former New York governor and controversial frontrunner in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary Andrew Cuomo has weighed in, calling Brad Lander’s arrest “the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump’s Ice out of control”.
Cuomo, who is seeking to rehabilitate his political career after leaving office amid sexual harassment allegations, wrote on 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. 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.
In a second post, he added:
Make no mistake: this kind of conduct is the direct result of @ericadamsfornyc handing the keys of our great City over to Donald Trump.
New York City council speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams is at the gathering outside the federal building. She called Brad Lander’s arrest “disgusting”, adding:
What happened to your America? What happened to our America? This is disgusting. This is not law, this is lawlessness. This is what our country has devolved to under Donald Trump.
‘What the hell is happening to this country?’: NY governor Kathy Hochul calls arrest of Brad Lander ‘bullshit’
“It’s bullshit,” New York governor Kathy Hochul has been quoted as saying on the arrest of Brad Lander by federal agents today.
The governor said she will call him when he’s out of Ice detention, adding:
But what about all the people who don’t have that high profile position?
She added:
Brad Lander has been a guiding help, and this is what happens to him? What the hell is happening to this country?
Lander’s arrest ‘grotesque’ and a ‘shocking abuse of power’, says NYC attorney general
New York attorney general Letitia James has condemned the arrest of NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander as “grotesque”, “profoundly unacceptable” and “a shocking abuse of power”.
This is profoundly unacceptable. Arresting Comptroller Lander for the simple act of standing up for immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power. No one should face fear and intimidation in a courthouse, and this is a grotesque escalation of tensions. The administration’s rampant targeting of New Yorkers only makes our communities less safe.
Crowd gathers outside federal immigration building calling for Ice to ‘free Brad Lander’
Ed Pilkington
A crowd of supporters were gathered at the corner of the federal immigration building chanting “free Brad lander” and “ICE out of the courts”. Protesters held up placards saying “fascist minion” and “immigrants are New York”.
The protesters were surrounded by a tight cordon of police and metal barricades. Public entrance to the building was closed despite it being a public building.
Among that gathering demanding Lander’s immediate release is fellow mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani who said on X: “Shame on Ice – and our disgraced mayor for his collaboration and silence.”
Brad Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, has posted again from his X account to say that he is still in Ice custody. She says a gathering has formed in Federal Plaza.
Hi, it’s Meg again. Brad is still in ICE custody.
We are grateful to the many friends, supporters, and allies who have gathered in Federal Plaza.
Together we are standing up for those with no voice. pic.twitter.com/lYUqF8vmIA
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) June 17, 2025
New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander was ‘arrested for assaulting law enforcement’, says DHS
On the arrest of New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander, DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Guardian Lander had been arrested for “assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer”.
McLaughlin said:
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.
Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them — it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine
law enforcement safety to get a viral moment.No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.
Here is the moment federal agents arrested the New York City comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander at a federal building in Manhattan.
He had spent the morning there observing immigration hearings and told an AP reporter he had intended to accompany some immigrants out of the building.
Footage of the arrest shows an agent telling Lander: “You’re obstructing.” Lander replies: “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens asking for a judicial warrant” as he was led into an elevator.
