(AFP) – A US judge on Thursday acquitted a Democratic congressional candidate who ICE agents arrested last September during a protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Brad Lander, then serving as New York’s fiscal watchdog, was accused of obstructing an elevator at a building that houses one of the city’s immigration courts. The site, 26 Federal Plaza, has become a flashpoint in Trump’s hardline mass deportation policy.
US media reported that Lander was found not guilty following a one-day trial in Manhattan as the judge found no evidence of deliberate obstruction. “I feel genuinely moved today by the rule of law,” Lander told reporters after the verdict.
“What a blessing to live in a country where if the government arrests you and charges you with something, you can count on the ability to go in and make the government prove its case,” he said. “All we want…is for everybody else facing removal proceedings by our government to have the same access to the rule of law as I had in this trial yesterday and today,” Lander added.
Under Trump, ICE agents have stepped up arrests of migrants at immigration courts immediately after appearances — overturning guidelines that prevented enforcement at sensitive locations. The administration’s hardline tactics have sparked protests and legal challenges in several states.
© 2024 AFP
