A chaotic situation at New York’s 26 Federal Plaza ended with a journalist seriously injured after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents got physical with reporters.
26 Federal Plaza is home to an ICE field office and an immigration court. Immigration officers have been seen arresting migrants there, and the press has documented the encounters. An ICE officer shoved a migrant to the ground last week and was temporarily suspended.
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Tuesday’s encounter saw an amNewYork reporter, Dean Moses, enter an elevator with ICE agents as they were attempting to arrest a migrant.
A video of the incident shows two masked officers grabbing Moses and pushing him out of the elevator. A different ICE officer then shoves a female journalist who was taking photos inside the elevator, and a thud can be heard before she hits the floor.
A separate male journalist behind her ended up on the floor with a serious injury and was taken to a hospital. Moses said the journalist was “semiconscious, but he didn’t move from the position for 35 to 40 minutes.”
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin blamed “agitators” for obstructing the operations of the officers, who she said were arresting “an illegal alien from Peru.”
“This morning, when making the arrest of an illegal alien from Peru at 26 Federal Plaza, officers were swarmed by agitators and members of the press, which obstructed operations,” she told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
“Officers repeatedly told the crowd of agitators and journalists to get back, move, and get out of the elevator. Rioters and sanctuary politicians who encourage individuals to interfere with arrests are actively creating hostile environments that put officers, detainees, and the public in harm’s way,” she added.
McLaughlin noted that 26 Federal Plaza has been subject to threats, “including assaults on law enforcement by sanctuary politicians and activists, a bomb threat, and a threatening letter with a white suspicious powder.”
The assistant secretary concluded by urging the media to stop the “demonization” of law enforcement and to “stop fanning the flames” of division.
New York Democrats responded to the physical incident, the second within the last two weeks there.
“Masked ICE agents shoved and injured journalists today at Federal Plaza. One reporter left on a stretcher,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) said in an X post.
“This abuse of law-abiding immigrants and the reporters telling their stories must end,” she added. “What the hell are we doing here?”
New York City Democratic nominee for mayor Zohran Mamdani said violence at 26 Federal Plaza cannot be standardized.
“We cannot accept or normalize what has now become routine violence at 26 Federal Plaza. It has no place in our city,” he wrote in an X post.
Past incidents of drama at the facility have also hit the media airwaves. A group of New York Democrats, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, was arrested after trying to gain access to an ICE field office in the building.
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Moses said he’s surprised that an incident like the one on Tuesday hasn’t happened sooner.
“There has been tension definitely rising there over the months, and it’s not just between ICE and the photographers. It’s between ICE, photographers, and other staff members,” he said. “It’s also among the immigrants who go there. It’s reached such a boiling point, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.”