A progressive mayoral candidate in a deep-blue city has now found himself in cuffs.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander Tuesday after he allegedly assaulted an ICE officer.
“New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer,” Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, according to New York Fox affiliate WNYW-TV.
She continued: “Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413 percent 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.”
The 55-year-old Lander is described by WNYW as “a progressive who, during his time in City Council, focused largely on police reform,” and is also New York City’s current comptroller.
According to Fox News, Lander was arrested by ICE agents at an immigration court, who were there seemingly to bring in an immigrant.
Lander’s wife took to the mayoral candidate’s account on social media platform X to post about the incident while also sharing some video of the incident.
Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad’s wife.
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. pic.twitter.com/jekaDFjsT1
— Brad Lander (@bradlander) June 17, 2025
“While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE,” Lander’s wife posted.
She added: “This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely.”
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin also took to X, responding to a different video of the incident — and noting that Lander appears to be in the wrong.
Based off this video, this is pretty blatant interference w/ ICE by Landers. You can see him locking arms w/ ICE’s target, and he refuses to let go, saying he wants to see a judicial warrant first. ICE does not need a judicial warrant to make an arrest, nor would they have to… https://t.co/c3chuAS6YA
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 17, 2025
“Based off this video, this is pretty blatant interference w/ ICE by Landers,” Melugin posted. “You can see him locking arms w/ ICE’s target, and he refuses to let go, saying he wants to see a judicial warrant first.
“ICE does not need a judicial warrant to make an arrest, nor would they have to show it to Landers because he asks for it. Physically interfering like this is exactly what Tom Homan has repeatedly warned would lead to potential federal prosecution.
“We’ll see what happens here.”
Indeed, as Melugin alluded to, it’s unclear as of this writing whether Lander is facing any charges.
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