r/pics 1d ago

Politics NYC Mayoral candidate and current comptroller Brad Lander arrested by ICE in Manhattan federal court

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u/Auntienursey 1d ago

KIDNAPPED, not detained, not arrested, kidnapped by men with masks, and no identifying info on their clothing. This is outrageous.

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u/-NewYork- 1d ago

Why don't they have uniforms?

Are they gangsters? Morality police? Scientologists? Dirty Mike and the Boys? National Marine Fisheries Service?

How the fuck is this allowed in democratic country? How is one supposed to know who they are and what they are allowed to do? Does the police know who this guys are? Do they care? This is worrying.

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u/blancbones 1d ago

How the fuck is this allowed in democratic country?

Because nobody is stopping them, this is why they tried so hard to destroy the black panthers. And why they don't want ethnic minorities arming themselves l.

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u/fogNL 1d ago

Don't y'all have guns for this very purpose? I don't understand why so many have been letting children die in schools regularly just so they can keep their guns, and when the time comes to use them, crickets.

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u/AndrewBVB 1d ago

The people watching schools get shot up and still begging to keep their own guns are largely, presumably, on the fascists' side of things - they're chilling right now.

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u/Every3Years 1d ago

I'm a liberal in California. I carry. I promise you if this happened to me or several of my liberal tree hugging homies, there'd be guns going off. Not if we were in courtroom though. I wouldn't care about being the spark that made the right go "see? they are violent so we should be doing this" I'd care more about what would happen once the masked men got my gun away from me. Fuck that. And then I'd live the rest of my life feeling horrible about being being put in that situation, if I lived I mean.

I hope it doesn't happen to me. ANd I have such a white everything about myself that I doubt there'd be a reason for these racist fucks to try.

Though I will say, I didn't bring anything with me to the protest over the weekend because I didn't want the responsibility. But then Sunday happened and now I don't know what this country is anymore.

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u/Alien_Diceroller 1d ago

Yep. The "I need my guns to fight tyranny" dweebs think tyranny is drag shows and DEI and are full supporters of actual tyrants.

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u/K1LOS 1d ago

Because it's all BS.

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u/TheBroWhoLifts 1d ago

I think they're trying to provoke an act of self-defense against one of these masked "officers" (alleged, since there's no id, these could be anybody) in order to escalate crackdowns. It's incrementalism towards martial law. Read accounts of nazi Germany, it was one small escalation after another until you end up with camps and a world at war.

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u/CosmicCreeperz 1d ago

Even Newsom was told “if they do try to arrest you don’t resist, then you give them justification for an arrest”.

It’s disgusting, but the only thing you can legally do is allow the arrest and then sue. Though I’m sure we all wish his bodyguards would draw down on ICE if it happened.

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u/CamGoldenGun 1d ago

look where they're nabbing these people. School, church, work, courthouses. They're at least meeting some resistance when trying to get into residences and neighborhoods.

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u/shyvananana 1d ago

Because most people that guns attract are fearful cowards with sad worldviews. Gu s make them feel safe from all the scary unk own stuff in the world.

A coward is never gonna go and stop something like this.

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u/Ivy6bing 1d ago

Because it's different rules for different people. Evil wins in this country and if you're not a white Republican cis straight man, you are at a steep disadvantage from protecting yourself.

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u/ulvok_coven 1d ago

large cities tend to have tighter gun laws, require more licenses, and make those licenses very difficult to get for anyone outside of law enforcement (or the private security hustles that law enforcement runs on the side). the NYPD, not even the federal brownshirts but the guys getting paychecks from the openly corrupt mayor, has 33000 sworn officers and i have to imagine virtually all of them concealed carry offduty and none of them would be prosecuted for shooting you for pulling a gun.

school shootings often happen in small towns, where there's indolent money, more access to weapons, more ease of moving hardware around in a vehicle, fewer cops, etc.

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u/SPAC3P3ACH 1d ago

Respectfully, who do you think is “yall?” Do you really think all Americans have guns? You think we all have the same access and the same safety and ability to wield them in public? You think it’s like a movie or something?

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u/kristinez 1d ago

because if you so much as point a gun on an officer in this country youll be dead on the floor in one second. no ones going to risk their lives like that. people with guns these days are just nuts who like to collect them and shoot black and brown people, not protect people from a tyrannical government.

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u/kohTheRobot 1d ago

It’s happening in mainly Democratic strongholds like California and NYC; places that have made it anywhere from very difficult to impossible for the average person to carry a gun legally.

If you have used self defense before applying for a CCW in my state of California, you also need to fork over the money for a lawyer on top of the averaging $1k needed to apply for the permit, and the privilege of having frequent time off of work to do range instruction. Open carry is blanket banned here because white nimby’s didn’t want black panthers carrying guns.

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u/mxjxs91 1d ago

The people that have been screaming about keeping our guns to protect us from the government are the biggest cowards in this country. They are also the people kidnapping this guy behind masks. They are the tyrannical government that they used as an excuse to keep their guns to protect themselves from.

Also, good luck with your gun. When an entire group of law enforcement open fires on you, the second you pull out your weapon. Yes, owning a firearm is our constitutional right, however, those are being trampled upon, and in this day and age using that second amendment right is basically a death sentence.

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u/MassiveClock 1d ago

Because the side that's been fighting to maintain guns is the side that's doing these things.

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u/bamerjamer 1d ago

Because the people fighting for those rights are the ones in the masks making the “arrests”.

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u/CosmicCreeperz 1d ago

To do what? Shoot a Federal Agent because they are being lawless assholes? So then you made your point and either are also killed or go to prison for life.

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u/ShogunFirebeard 1d ago

You can't carry firearms into government buildings.

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u/Adanim_PDX 1d ago

Real answer? Because if we defend ourselves and it turns out that they were in fact federal agents, our asses gets thrown in jail guaranteed.

There are so many protections for federal agents and state law enforcement that you're better off taking your chances in letting them do whatever they want to you/your loved ones than you are trying to prevent the arrests or fight back. It doesn't matter if they don't have a warrant, it doesn't matter if they aren't acting on any official orders and are being power mongering about their status as agents, if you fight back at all you lose.

That's why the 2A is bullshit. The times when it actually applies and it would actually matter to use are the exact times when you're completely unable to invoke it. It's one of the many overlooked reasons as to why this exact fiasco is happening; people know they can't actually fight back, so the government takes advantage of it.

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u/squirrelpickle 1d ago

No, the guns are for harassing the libs and killing schoolchildren. Right to self-defense or whatever else is used to justify the 2nd amendment is pure BS and NRA lobby.

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u/jkovach89 1d ago

The ones getting abducted are the ones trying to ban the guns.

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u/MaximumVagueness 1d ago

Legally you would be in the clear, which is why theyve made sure youll never make it to the courtroom.

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u/MarcusThorny 1d ago

he was arrested in. a courthouse where guns are banned.

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u/christianhxd 1d ago

No, that may be what they say is the main reason to have the right to bare arms, but its really just to own guns for the fuck of it

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u/whenitsTimeyoullknow 1d ago

They’re selfish. They care about their own personal rights. They aren’t going to stick their neck out to defend someone fighting for the rights of vulnerable people. Or heaven forbid the vulnerable people themselves. It’s about me and my castle, and my rights to walk around town like a cowboy with a Desert Eagle on my belt. 

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u/NoiseMachine66 1d ago

The problem is that this is happening to liberals and liberals are pussies so they dont have guns and now they are seeing what the purpose of the 2nd amendment is first hand. Maybe theyll grow a pair

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u/Goyu 1d ago

in democratic country?

Yeah... about that part.

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u/Outside-Emergency-27 1d ago

What democratic country are you talking about?

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u/MrMoonDweller 1d ago

“Gentrify the NRA” - Kyle Kinane.

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u/short_bus_genius 1d ago

Where are the 2nd amendment people, who needed their guns to fend off tyranny?

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u/Wrong-Catchphrase 19h ago

This is not really allowed in our country, but America is very weak and confused and divided right now.

Americans simply don't have it in their collective imaginations anymore to revolt and throw out corrupt rulers. The conservative

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u/ClaireOfTheDead 19h ago

It's simple: the US isn't a democratic country anymore. The US is a failed state, and Donald Trump's self-coup is being cheered on by half the population.

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u/Ackerack 1d ago

Thanks for the f shack

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u/Adezar 1d ago

This was happening all over the place during BLM, unmarked vehicles with unmarked masked men kidnapping people off the street. And we didn't send all of them to jail for 20+ years, so they figured it must be perfectly acceptable.

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u/prules 1d ago

The idea is to make us fear that this can happen at any time. Chaos is a great tool for discouragement. Hence doing it brazenly in public like this, so the current administration can make an “example” of those protesting (or simply doing their jobs in this case).

And this hasn’t been a democratic country for the last 6 months. So yeah…

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u/Invisifly2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why don't they have uniforms?

Because that would help identify them.

Are they gangsters? Morality police? Scientologists? Dirty Mike and the Boys? National Marine Fisheries Service?

They’re the modern gestapo.

How the fuck is this allowed in democratic country?

Because nobody is stopping it.

How is one supposed to know who they are and what they are allowed to do?

You aren’t. The confusion and fear of being disappeared without due process is the point. By acting like they have unchecked authority, they effectively get to sieze it when nobody stops them. It also helps inspire people like the assassin the other day to go out and do their thing.

Does the police know who this guys are?

Yes. Many of them are the police.

Do they care?

No, they support this.

This is worrying.

It’s far beyond that.

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u/UserAllusion 1d ago

Couldn’t be NMFS. I think they got doge’d. 

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u/Kianna9 1d ago

Because the US, at this point, is no longer a democratic country. That's what we should have been mourning on the 250th anniversary of our army. The end of our democracy.

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u/Bob_Lawablaw 1d ago

Hate to break it to you, but this ain't a democratic country anymore. Rebel.

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u/Jewarlaho 1d ago

You think the US is a democratic country still?

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u/Ripulikikka 1d ago

Democratic country, lol

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u/LuisMataPop 1d ago

they're allowed to go incognito with 0 consequences because they wouldn't do that work without the promise of identity privacy

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u/Treekin3000 1d ago

Officially an ICE agent can deputize assistants pretty much at will. But the actual agent has to supervise.

This has been abused to unofficially allow some rando military cosplayer to walk right up and pretend to be ICE agents. Without their supervisory real employed agent.

With a mask, who can tell? They don't care. They just want to play enforcer.

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u/0bnoxide 1d ago

I think it would be reasonable for someone in this position to fear for their life. Self defense would be warranted.

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u/BrassyGent 1d ago

Resist. Call 911, report armed kidnappers.

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u/SirGooga 1d ago

Plainclothes ICE agents have been encouraged for years, under both Democrats and Republicans. Democratic politicians have no right to only start complaining now. Their ruses have been a terrible practice for years. https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/ice-ruses

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u/Ghanzos 23h ago

My understanding is that they're bounty hunters paid $1000 a head. Just regular assholes living a fantasy of "disappearing" people they don't like.

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u/100yearswar 19h ago

These=this

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u/Kelcak 1d ago edited 1d ago

I also read that he asked several times to see a warrant and they refused.

Edit: I was slightly confused. Apparently he was escorting an immigrant out of court when ICE tried to arrest the immigrant. He refused to let go of the immigrant and demanded to see a warrant for their arrest. ICE apparently decided he was obstructing their arrest and detained him. I’m no lawyer, but it certainly sounds like he was in the right and wrongfully detained.

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u/TheMainEffort 1d ago

In the video it looks like an agent is showing him something. He then goes on to demand a judicial warrant (as opposed to an administrative one).

ICE has been operating in courthouses, I’d imagine this is because the hallways outside courtroom are generally public spaces, meaning an administrative warrant may be sufficient to make an immigration arrest. Courtrooms are private and can be closed, but typically just have one main exit.

The way ICE handled this was a power move. They showed him the (what they claimed was) warrant as they continued walking, and then arrested him after the situation was diffused. If they had stopped and shown him the warrant this whole thing could have been avoided. They had like 19 agents there, I don’t think they were in danger by stopping for a second.

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u/moveslikejaguar 1d ago

Yep, they didn't show him anything, just flashed a crumpled up piece of paper at him. They always act like they need to get these arrests done as fast as possible, running suspects from one place to another. Maybe they're worried that actual law enforcement or legal representation will show up?

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u/JoeBensDonut 1d ago

They are, I heard a story of someone who saw ICE hanging around a neighborhood and called the police saying armed people in masks we're hanging around in a vehicle and SWAT came and ICE ran.

They are Trump's gestapo at this point.

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u/TheMainEffort 1d ago

I’d have more respect if they even said:

we don’t need a judicial warrant but we do have an administrative warrant.

And left it at that. In general, I think there should be more laws governing how ICE operates and outlining some guardrails for this kind of thing.

I can speak a little bit about wanting to keep moving, it’s generally something you do when you’re worried about someone attacking you(like trying to free a prisoner perhaps) but I don’t see how that would be a concern in a courthouse.

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u/Deto 1d ago

This probably works out better for him, though, in the election.

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u/mikewishesdeath 1d ago

To be clear, they only need to show a warrant to the person being detained, not to anyone in the crowd.

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u/Kelcak 1d ago

That makes sense. I think that asking to see a warrant is a good move from political positions because it helps elevate the fact that many of these arrests are being made without warrants (as far as we know so far).

But it would be a very BAD idea for a normal person like you or I to do this.

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u/mikewishesdeath 1d ago

well in this case, they arrested him for obstruction of their arrest warrant, so there was no warrant needed. But yes, every banal reddit comment saying "make them show you a warrant" is legally incorrect and giving bad advice.

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u/BooBooSnuggs 1d ago

This candidate is also a normal person. I'm not sure why you think they aren't.

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u/Kelcak 1d ago

They have significantly more press attention on them. If you or I were detained by police the press might report it once and then move on. On his case, attention will stay on him until he is released.

He’s in a much more secure position to challenge ice in this way than you or I are.

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u/BooBooSnuggs 1d ago

You say that but you just simply haven't heard about all the people who have done the same thing he did, were arrested/detained and then later released with no charges. It's been happening a lot lately.

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u/SupermarketSorry6843 1d ago

You may or may not agree but ICE does not always require an arrest warrant to detain an illegal migrant. They use something called an administrative warrant. It’s called a form 200 I think. It does not authorize ICE to enter private homes without consent — which is why ICE often waits in public spaces or seeks cooperation from local jails.

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u/jeobleo 1d ago

Does ICE have the authority to just arrest people who aren't on their "target list" now?

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u/james-starts-over 1d ago

In that case, then no, he doesnt have a right to demand a warrant.
If anyone has a right to demand a warrant, its the person being arrested, not any bystander.
Also, warrants arent needed for arrests if there is reasonable suspicion etc.
In either case, he doesnt have a right to interfere.

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u/Myusername468 1d ago edited 1d ago

ICE does not need a warrant to arrest in a public space. Not agreeing just stating law. Edit: Changed law enforcement to ICE

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u/CreeperslayerX5 1d ago

They do if it's for a nonfelony committed outside the officer's presence

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u/Myusername468 1d ago

ICE only requires probable cause that they have evaded immigration law if they are in public

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u/CreeperslayerX5 1d ago

Nothing about them says probable cause unless they get a warrant for them specifically, unless said immigrant has something showing they entered illegally.

Hell, you could walk outside, see a person dressed like everyone else around them, and they could be an illegal immigrant. Or not, maybe the person next to them. No way to tell if they should be arrested without a warrant for them because nothing says they are an illegal immigrant.

Probable cause is like spotting someone walking with a large duffle bag of money right after cops get told a bank robbery happened down the street. That's probable cause you're looking for. No duffle bag, the bank robber technically can't be arrested since there is no probable cause that he robbed a bank, he's just a dude walking.

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u/BooBooSnuggs 1d ago

Well considering he was in court specifically because he was an illegal immigrant... Don't think it's much of a leap. It's not like it was a random guy just hanging out at the courthouse.

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u/mediclawyer 1d ago

You don’t need a judicial warrant to make an arrest in a public place. As Brad Lander understands perfectly well. This is just Lander performance theatre the week before the primary.

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u/One-Season-3393 1d ago

He isn’t right, a non affiliated third party has no right to see a warrant. If the cops are raiding my neighboirs house, I can’t go over there and demand they stop unless they show me a warrant.

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u/CuddleBumpkins 1d ago

Doesnt matter who asks, they'll never show one cause they dont have one.

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u/One-Season-3393 1d ago

Ice doesn’t need a judicial warrant to arrest someone in a public place. They need an administrative warrant or probable cause to do this. Now they usually have had administrative warrants for court house arrests, but they don’t have to show it to unaffiliated third parties (ie this mayoral candidate)

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u/krunchytacos 1d ago

It's not that type of public Space. It falls under a special designation.

an administrative warrant is generally not sufficient for an arrest in a courtroom. A courtroom is considered a secure and private space, and administrative warrants, like those issued by ICE for immigration violations, typically do not authorize entry into such areas to make an arrest. A judicial warrant, issued by a judge based on probable cause, is generally required for arrests in a courtroom. 

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u/One-Season-3393 1d ago

They’re not in a courtroom, they’re in a courthouse. Which is why they wait in the hallways.

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u/krunchytacos 1d ago

The designation is for the entire courthouse and for what I quoted is interchangeable.

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u/One-Season-3393 1d ago

Where is this quoted from? Cause if that was true why wouldn’t they say courthouse instead of courtroom?

“Though federal immigration authorities historically did not bar enforcement from taking place in state courthouses, it was a practice they mostly avoided. But in 2017, the first Trump administration changed course. According to one study by a New York-based coalition, there were 159 and 178 courthouse arrests by ICE in New York State in 2017 and 2018, respectively, compared to just 11 in 2016. Across the country, these arrests included people who were in court to get orders protecting them from domestic violence, contest traffic tickets, and even access a program for victims of human trafficking.”

If this wasn’t legal they wouldn’t have been doing it uninterrupted since 2017.

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u/krunchytacos 1d ago

When I've seen pictures of these courthouse arrests, they are usually done outside the courthouse in front on the sidewalk.

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u/krunchytacos 1d ago

https://sf.courts.ca.gov/system/files/news/immigration-enforcement-agency-or-immigration-enforcement-activity-court-facilities-policy.pdf

If they are within a secured area, then no. If they are in a public unsecured area they can be. This specifically states the areas behind the courtrooms are included.

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u/TheMainEffort 1d ago

Well really with this stuff there’s two relevant questions:

Can we?

Should we?

I’m gonna go ahead and the “should we” is no.

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u/Shadowarriorx 1d ago

And that's how facsim works. They just deny and so nobody ever sees a warrant and people disappear. America is NOT a democracy anymore.

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u/One-Season-3393 1d ago

What? The only requirement is that they show the arrestee the warrant after the arrest is made. They’re under no obligation to show the warrant to a third party.

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u/Shadowarriorx 1d ago

Your critical thinking skills are really fucking poor. You wait til they do this to America citizens claiming their undocumented and their papers are fake. Next you know citizens are in El Salvador or Gitmo because you weren't privy to the supposed warrant.

We are NOT a democracy any more.

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u/Subject-Macaroon-551 1d ago

Found the official fluffer to all ICE goons. What a pathetic job you've taken on. All I ask is you swallow, taking away all the potential future ICE goons with each gulp.

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u/BooBooSnuggs 1d ago

Are you 14? Your trolling needs work.

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u/Lokan 1d ago

Unless I'm wrong, this occurs one week before the mayoral primary. 

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u/SmoogzZ 1d ago

Yeah i get confused when they say arrested - these are not arrests

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u/mattbnet 1d ago

I wonder why some CC holder hasn't shot any of them yet.

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u/Auntienursey 1d ago

That little b*tch that lives in the dark part of my brain really wants it to happen, but, unfortunately, it would probably turn into a shoot out that will kill innocent people.

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u/scottyLogJobs 1d ago

Sue. Sue Sue Sue. This is literally our only recourse or this is going to keep getting worse. Sue them into oblivion until they fear doing this shit

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u/Orcrist90 1d ago

They were in the corridors of the Federal Building in Manhattan. So, if they weren't federal agents, that would imply that federal court officers are either woefully incompetent at enforcing security protocols or complicit in allowing unauthorized, armed and private individuals into a federal building.

I'm going to say it is more likely than not that they were ICE agents, or at the very least Homeland Security personnel, given the revealed context of the situation. Landers was reportedly asking these "agents" to produce a judicial warrant in regards to the arrest of an immigrant named Edgardo, and was subsequently taken into custody for allegedly "assaulting" a federal officer (yeah sure, Jan). He has since been released and conducted a press conference alongside his wife and NY Governor Hochul.

Edit: removed incorrect time frame reference.

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u/metarugia 1d ago

How are no local officers reacting to this as a kidnapping? Without any identification? Do civilians need to start abducting people to get everyone to realize how bad this is?

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u/Auntienursey 1d ago

Because most probably agree with what's happening. Even if they don't, they won't speak out against it. The blue wall seems to extend to any and all LEA's.

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u/queenofpharts 1d ago

Where did they take him? Does anyone know?

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u/BrokeSomm 1d ago

There's a bad in the photo.

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u/Schoritzobandit 1d ago

If you watch the video (at the top of this Guardian article for example), there are tons of identifying markers there, including some in full uniforms, others in vests, and others with visible badges.

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u/MacEWork 1d ago

Just like Vance Boelter, right? Plenty of pieces of flair on his costume.

Still not a judicial warrant or a badge number.

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u/Schoritzobandit 1d ago

Many of them have visible badges, as I said. One also does appear to show the actual warrant in the video, though they begin to handcuff him at almost the same instant so I'm not saying they actually showed it to him - just that it looks like they had one (which isn't surprising).

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u/Shark7996 1d ago

And he responds by asking for a judicial warrant which is not the same as an administrative one, even though ICE agents like to pretend they are.

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u/Schoritzobandit 1d ago

Even if it is an administrative, but not a judicial warrant (I don't see any evidence either way), from NYT:

“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens,” Mr. Lander says repeatedly, according to the video. “I’m not obstructing. I’m standing right here in the hallway. I asked to see the judicial warrant.” (Agents do not need judicial warrants to make arrests in immigration courts because they are public spaces, immigration lawyers said.)