Masked ICE agents arrest NYC comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander

June 17 (UPI) -- Masked federal ICE agents arrested New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander on Tuesday at a Manhattan immigration court.

"While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE," Meg Barnette, Lander's wife, posted on his X account shortly before 1 p.m. EDT.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security contends that Lander "assaulted" and impeded a law-enforcement officer.

"This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely," Barnette added.

Lander, the city's elected fiscal watchdog who opted not to seek re-election this year as comptroller, is one of nine Democrats running in the June 24 primary election for the nomination to lead America's biggest city. Others include disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for re-election seeking a second term following his dismissal by Trump's Department of Justice on a number of corruption charges.

Lander was present in court Tuesday morning to observe immigration hearings involving people targeted for deportation amid the Trump administration's unprecedented mass deportations and immigration crackdown.

Video footage of the chaotic incident depicts Lander outside a courtroom when he is approached in a hallway by masked and unmasked agents as he and his staff walked arm-in-arm with an immigrant. Minutes earlier, the immigrant's court case was dismissed pending further appeal, yet officers attempted to arbitrarily arrest him again immediately after despite the case dismissal. Such activity has become a known ICE tactic following immigration court hearings.

Lander repeatedly asked to see a warrant and badge as he was ignored and roughly handcuffed.

"You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens," Lander yelled after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent ordered to "take him in" then forcibly pushed Lander against a wall before cuffing him.

"I'm not obstructing, I am standing right here in the hallway," Lander said.

Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James condemned Lander's arrest as "profoundly unacceptable" and a "grotesque escalation of tensions."

It arrived days after U.S. Sen Alex Padilla, D-Calif., was similarly detained by ICE agents at a media event with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

"Arresting Comptroller Lander for the simple act of standing up for immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power," James wrote in a statement.

Lander was reportedly still in custody in the afternoon local time.

"Masked ICE agents just violently arrested a US citizen -- and elected official -- for simply asking to see a judicial warrant," Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, a candidate for Lander's comptroller job, said on X.

"This is authoritarianism. Comptroller Lander must be released immediately," Levine said.