NYC mayoral candidate Brad Lander arrested at immigration court
New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.
Lander's arrest in
Manhattan
marks latest confrontation between U.S. agents and a Democratic politician objecting to the
Trump administration's mass detention and deportation programs.
Lander was released from custody after a few hours. The U.S. attorney's office said it was investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime. The
immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom
was also arrested.
Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter he was there to 'accompany' some immigrants out of the building.
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New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested at a court hearing after demanding ICE officials present a warrant
(Image: AP)
His confrontation with agents unfolded quickly. As a group of agents moved in to detain a man who had exited a courtroom, Lander locked arms with the immigrant and demanded to see a judicial warrant. For more than 40 seconds, agents tried to physically separate the two, pulling both men down the hall in a chaotic scrum as photographers snapped photos.
Eventually, the agents wrested the two apart, then grabbed Lander's arms and put them behind his back.
'You're obstructing,' an agent told Lander.
'I'm not obstructing. I'm standing right here in the hallway,' Lander said as he was being handcuffed. In a statement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander 'was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer.'
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
(Image: AP)
After his release, Lander exited the building holding hands with his wife and accompanied by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to the cheers of a gathered crowd. He told reporters all he was trying to do was hold the arm of the man being detained and 'certainly did not' assault an officer.
'I am happy to report that I am just fine. I lost a button,' Lander said, adding that he planned to return to the immigration court again as a form of nonviolent way of standing up to Trump's immigration policies.
'I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people,' he said.
He added that the man 'ripped' from his arms 'doesn't have a lawyer' and will likely sleep in an immigration detention center.
The episode occurred as federal immigration officials
are conducting
large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country. In many cases, immigrants are arrested after a judge grants a government request to dismiss their case, making them eligible for expedited removal.
'They remove any opportunity for due process,' Lander had told reporters earlier in the day.
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Even if there is yet to be any tangible impact from these threats, the combination of lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny has had a chilling effect on brands and DEI, ad bosses say. Richard Exon, co-founder of independent creative advertising agency Joint, says that commitment to DEI 'has recently become a politicised position' in the US. Larger businesses were facing the challenge of achieving broad appeal in a highly polarised media landscape, he adds. 'It's not surprising if these larger businesses proceed more cautiously on social justice issues.' Some marketers say they are being more closely monitored by their boards about delivery, with the focus now on effectiveness of campaigns that can yield tangible sales. Brands are often working with tightened budgets, says one UK advertising boss, meaning that 'anything unrelated to pure growth, including purpose, could be seen as a distraction and therefore harder to gain traction within a business'. But the move in the cultural landscape has also shifted marketing budgets, with organisers of Pride marches and other LGBT+ events saying that there has been a retreat from corporate sponsors this year in the US and the UK. In New York, a number of sponsors such as Mastercard did not renew their top-tier corporate sponsorships of Pride. Mastercard said that, this year, it was 'proudly participating in the NYC Pride March and related events with a strong employee-led presence and a community engagement programme'. [ A quarter of major US corporate backers pull out of Dublin Pride over Trump fears Opens in new window ] Polly Shute, founder of Out & Wild, the UK's largest LGBT+ festival and former board member of Pride in London, says that corporate sponsors have been less keen to back events. Plymouth and Liverpool have both pulled their Pride march events – the latter blaming 'significant financial and organisational challenges' at a time of rising costs. Shute says that, in 2017, Pride 'was turning brands away as they did not meet criteria' but 'it's very different now'. She notes that some brands and companies had stopped changing their logos to Pride colours on social media such as LinkedIn. In the UK, these include firms that have extensive operations in the US such as WPP, Linklaters and Freshfields. Linklaters said its 'commitment remains unchanged. We are proud to be celebrating Pride at Linklaters ... with events and activities taking place across our global offices'. Freshfields has used other Pride branding this year, including a Pride banner across its LinkedIn page. Shute says that demand for influencers to be used in external marketing, and for speakers for internal corporate events, has also been more muted this year. 'It used to be that the social media was really positive but now the reaction has scared off sponsorship as they don't want to be associated with the negativity.' However, dog treats company BarkBox showed there are dangers in shifting positions. Matt Meeker, the group's chief executive, was forced to apologise after a leaked Slack message suggested the company would pause paid advertising for its Pride kit, with the 'current climate' making such promotions 'feel like a political statement'. Target, the US retailer, has also been boycotted by some customers since February owing to its decision to scale back DEI initiatives. 'Target is another example recently where a changed policy has resulted in people voting with their wallets and from a purchase perspective,' says FCB's Turnbull. The People's Union USA, a grassroots consumer-led group, has organised 'economic blackouts' against other companies such as Amazon, Walmart and General Mills. [ Meta introduces advertising to WhatsApp in push for new revenues Opens in new window ] 'This blackout isn't symbolic. It's strategic. We are the economy. We are the machine they profit off of. And it's time to show them what happens when the machine stops,' it says. These shifting cultural sands – and the now ever present risk of alienating customers on any side of a political or societal divide – means that it is in brands' interest to play it safe, according to marketers. 'People are just leaning back, particularly our big clients,' says one ad boss. 'There's just less of a focus on purposeful, super-targeted work right now.' Some point to a focus on humour or universal themes as risk-free ways to get to the biggest audiences. The shift is particularly sensitive at the Cannes Lions festival, which for several years was seen by some as having moved potentially too far towards social issues in the sorts of advertising work it celebrated and rewarded. In Cannes, much of the talk was about how AI would replace a lot of the work carried out by creative teams, resulting in unoriginal and bland advertising campaigns, exacerbating the shift to safety-first approaches. But some are hopeful that the industry can withstand external pressures, finding new and clever ways to reach audiences irrespective of political allegiances. And they point out that Cannes Lions still has an award for work that addresses inequality and prejudice by representing and empowering marginalised communities. 'Purpose always has a place,' says Karen Martin, boss of BBH and president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. 'Cannes may have become too purposeful for a while, but getting different creative voices in the room, and making sure you are addressing all audiences, will always be the centre of what we do.' – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
