A politician hoping to become the Democratic mayoral candidate for New York City has been arrested by federal agents.
Brad Lander was taken into custody while escorting a defendant out of an immigration courtroom after spending the morning observing proceedings.
Video of the arrest, posted on his X account by his wife Meg Barnette, showed Mr Lander being confronted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
She said her husband was arrested after he “linked arms” with the person he was accompanying.
As multiple officers, some in plain clothes, grabbed Mr Lander, he was heard repeatedly asking: “Do you have a judicial warrant?”
While being put into handcuffs, he added: “You don’t have the authority to arrest US citizens,” before an agent told him: “You’re obstructing”.
Mr Lander, who is also the city’s comptroller, or financial officer, was then taken into a lift by the agents. The defendant he was with was also arrested.
Pic: AP
Mr Lander is currently running in the Democratic Party primary for mayor, with voting closing on Saturday.
The New York mayoral election is set for 4 November, with incumbent Eric Adams running as an independent despite being voted in as a Democrat.
Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Barnette said she was confident her husband would be released.
However, she added: “This is not the way we deal with the rule of law, this is not the way people are treated in the United States.
“I feel really rattled and scared, and my husband is a candidate for mayor, is an elected citywide official, is US citizen.”
Zohran Mamdani, a New York assemblyman and a fellow candidate in the Democratic primaries, shared the video of Mr Lander’s arrest and said: “NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was just arrested by Trump’s ICE agents because he asked to see a judicial warrant.
“This is fascism and all New Yorkers must speak in one voice. Release him now.”
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It comes after New Jersey mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge outside a federal immigration detention centre in his city in May.
He was released hours later, and charges were later dropped by the interim attorney for the state. Mr Baraka has since filed a suit against the attorney alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution.
US President Donald Trump and his “border czar” Tom Homan have also suggested California governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass should be arrested after anti-ICE protests broke out in the city.
