() Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller and a Democratic candidate for mayor, is not expected to face charges after he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Tuesday as he was attempting to accompany a person out of immigration court, New York’s governor announced.

Lander was in court observing immigration hearings and told The Associated Press that he was there to accompany people out of the courthouse. Video of the incident showed Lander being taken into custody by federal agents. The Department of Homeland Security later announced Lander had been taken into custody for assaulting a law enforcement officer and impeding a federal agent.

However, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon that charges against Lander had been dropped and that Lander had walked out of federal custody a free man. She called Tuesday “a sorry day for New York and for the United States.”

“I just want to say we’re a better country than this,” Hochul said. “We’re a far better country than what we’re experiencing.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York issued a statement Tuesday that it is continuing to investigate the actions involving Lander.

“The safety and security of official proceedings, government officials, law enforcement officers, and all members of the public who participate in them is a core focus of our Office,” the agency said. 

What led to Brad Lander’s arrest

Lander’s wife, Meg Barnette, told reporters after Lander’s arrest that her husband tried to link arms with a person as that person left the courtroom when he was swarmed by federal agents.

“They said, ‘You’re obstructing,’” Barnette said. “I was shoved out of the way.”

“What I saw was shocking and unacceptable,” she added. “What I saw today was not the rule of law.”

In a statement provided to , DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “It is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment.”

“No one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will find consequences,” McLaughlin added.

Video of Tuesday’s incident showed that in the moments before Lander was arrested, agents could be seen trying to separate him from the person agents appeared to be taking into custody. Landers was apprehended by agents, one of whom was dressed in a uniform that read, “federal agent,” while others were dressed in plain clothes and wore surgical masks.

“I’m not obstructing, I’m standing right here in the hallway,” Lander said as he was being handcuffed.

“You don’t have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial warrant,” Lander added.

After being released, Lander told reporters that he is “just fine” and that he would sleep at home with his family and not have to worry about his due process rights.

He said that Tuesday marked the third straight week that he had volunteered with a local migrant rights organization to walk families out of the courthouse following immigration hearings in which migrants were released but still faced expedited deportation.

The response to Brad Lander’s arrest

A Lander spokesperson told on Tuesday that they did not have a comment on the Department of Homeland Security statement on X, which referenced a 2024 Lander tweet that read, “No one is above the law.”

However, the spokesperson referred to the video of Lander’s arrest, which “speaks for itself.”

“The person who Lander was linked arm and arm with while attempting to walk out of the courtroom was also detained after being acquitted in court today,” the spokesperson said.

When asked what the person was acquitted of, the spokesperson said they were unsure but that more information would be forthcoming.

New York Attorney General Letitia James called Lander’s arrest “a shocking abuse of power”, adding, “No one should face fear and intimidation in a courthouse, and this administration’s continued rampant targeting of New Yorkers makes our communities less safe.”

Hochul called Lander’s arrest “bulls–t” in a social media post after the mayoral candidate was taken into custody.

Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, said that the aggressive targeting of Democratic elected officials by the Trump administration will “invariably result in law-abiding public servants being marked for death by violent extremists.” Jeffries also pushed back against DHS claims that Lander assaulted law enforcement agents.

“This is America. The request for a judicial warrant and observance of law enforcement activity are not crimes,” Jeffries said. “There is zero basis for a federal investigation, and any such plans should be dropped forthwith.

Michael Blake, a fellow mayoral candidate in the New York primary election and former New York assemblyman, called Lander’s arrest “absolutely inhumane and unconstitutional.”

Blake said that the video of the arrest shows Lander asking agents for a warrant and said that the city comptroller was doing his job in trying to protect someone when he was taken into custody.”

“We will not stand and tolerate this,” Blake told , adding, “It’s just absolutely wrong in every possible manner … we are saying very clearly that we are done … and we’re not going to tolerate this any longer.”