The New Yorker:

By Eric Lach
A staff writer covering New York City politics.

Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller, emerged from the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, in lower Manhattan, on Tuesday looking sheepish and relieved. “I lost a button,” he joked with reporters, cutting through the anxious mood that had settled in around the drab tower all afternoon, since Lander was forcibly detained by federal agents while attempting to shield people from Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after immigration hearings. Video and photos of the arrest—the besuited Lander straining as he’s whipped around by masked men—had gone instantly viral, and protesters, immigration activists, and elected officials held a snap rally in Foley Square, across the street from the building.

An ice official had issued a statement accusing Lander of “assaulting law enforcement.” It was the kind of inflammatory and false rhetoric that has become normal to hear from federal officials in the current environment, said seemingly with no consequences or concern for reality: the footage of the arrest showed nothing close to violence from Lander, and, after several hours spent in a room without his phone, the second-highest-ranking official in New York City was released with no charges filed. “I’m happy to report I’m just fine,” Lander said. “I don’t have to worry about my due-process rights.” His wife, he said, had gotten in touch with a lawyer just in case.

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