New York City elected officials and mayoral candidates were quick to condemn the Immigration and Customs Enforcement assault on an amNewYork reporter and alleged assault of another journalist at a downtown immigration court Tuesday morning.
Officers shoved amNewYork’s police bureau chief, Dean Moses, as Moses was documenting the detention of an immigrant who had arrived for a hearing at 26 Federal Plaza. According to Moses, agents shoved Associated Press freelancer Olga Fedorova to the floor, at which point L. Vural Elibol of the Anadolu Agency also fell to the ground and sustained what appeared to be a serious injury.
“He was semiconscious, but he didn’t move from the position for 35 to 40 minutes,” Moses said of the incident.
The Department of Homeland Security called for medical assistance and a nurse provided preliminary treatment to Elibol on the scene. EMS put Elibol in a neck brace before loading him onto a stretcher and taking him to a hospital for treatment.
“The federal government’s cruelty was seen again today, after ICE agents brutally attacked several members of the press,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams wrote in a Tuesday afternoon post on X. “This attack on the First Amendment is unacceptable. New Yorkers are praying for the full recovery of photojournalist L. Vural Elibol.”
In an official statement posted to his government website, Williams condemned President Donald Trump’s administration for its crackdown on immigration and encroachment into press activities.
The agents who allegedly assaulted journalists Tuesday morning wore plain clothes and face coverings concealing their identities — a tactic the agency has used for months during raids at the court house.
“”If these attacks happen on the sidewalk outside 26 Federal Plaza, the perpetrators would be arrested for assault. But behind their face masks and locked doors, these federal agents believe they are accountable to no one – and they will attack anyone trying to show the world the reality,” Williams wrote. “The NYPD should explore any ability they have to stop these repeat offenders committing violence in our city.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has made a habit of observing immigration proceedings as a “friend of the court” to escort immigrants to and from their hearings, condemned Tuesday’s incident.
“Another violent attack by an ICE officer on a civilian at 26 Federal Plaza—this time on a journalist, who had to be carried out on stretcher,” Lander wrote in a Tuesday post on X. “Another attack on the First Amendment, our neighbors, and our democracy.”
ICE agents arrested Lander in June while he observed proceedings, drawing condemnation from elected officials across the country. Earlier this month, ICE arrested 15 elected officials, including Lander and Williams, who were participating in a sit-in at 26 Federal Plaza.
An ICE supervising officer drew widespread attention last Wednesday after forcefully shoving to the ground Monica Moreta-Galarza, an immigrant from Ecuador, pleading with the officer to release her husband from custody, inside the same courthouse. The supervisor was relieved of his duties shortly after the incident, but reportedly returned to work on Monday.
“It seems like the modicum of accountability served to the ICE agent reinstated yesterday is being taken out on the free press in a fresh wave of violence,” Lander added.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams condemned the incident in a Tuesday post to X.
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (D-Queens), the Democratic nominee for mayor, wrote in a Tuesday X post that ICE violence has “no place in our city.”
“Five days ago, an ICE agent shoved a woman asking questions about the detention of her husband. Today they attacked journalists from @amNewYork and @AP,” Mamdani wrote. “We cannot accept or normalize what has now become routine violence at 26 Federal Plaza.”
“We are again witnessing ICE attack people at 26 Federal Plaza yet again, this time hospitalizing a journalist for simply doing his job,” Adams wrote. “This is a disgraceful assault on our freedoms & more evidence that Trump’s ICE is more concerned with sowing fear and chaos than public safety.”
Council Member Tiffany Cabán (D-Queens), wrote in a statement: “ICE is violent. ICE is a threat to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and to our democracy. ICE is a tool of fascism. ICE separates families, assaults journalists, disappears neighbors, deports children, ignores court orders, and makes us all less safe.”
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa — the three remaining candidates for mayor — did not provide comments in time for publication.
Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped his bid for reelection on Sunday amid tanking approval ratings and low polling, also did not provide a comment in time for publication.
ICE has faced widespread scrutiny throughout the summer and into the fall for its raid tactics in cities across the country, particularly regarding agents’ escalating force and identity concealment. Reps. Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) introduced the “No Secret Police Act” to the House of Representatives, seeking to prohibit officers from concealing their faces during civil immigration enforcement.
Earlier this month, California passed legislation banning federal agents from wearing identity-concealing masks during enforcement. Last week, the Trump administration ordered the federal agency to ignore the new law.
