Officers with the Department of Homeland Security briefly detained a staff member in Rep. Jerry Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) Manhattan office during an incident on Wednesday, as protests took place outside an immigration courthouse in the same federal facility as the representative’s office.
The incident, first reported by the news outlet Gothamist on Friday, was captured on video. In the recording, a DHS officer can be heard saying that members of Nadler’s staff were “harboring rioters” in their office while another officer cuffs a crying staffer.
Security Check at Nadler’s Office
According to a statement from DHS, Federal Protective Service officers showed up at Nadler’s office to “conduct a security check” because they were “concerned about the safety of the federal employees in the office” after hearing reports of “incidents” nearby.
The statement did not mention the issue of “harboring rioters” that the officer referred to in the video.
Federal Officers’ Encounter
DHS officers identified themselves and entered the office, where they were met by four people who remained unnamed in the agency’s statement. One of the individuals “became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office,” the statement to POLITICO read, prompting the officers to detain the person in the hallway as they proceeded with their search. According to the statement, all parties “were released without further incident.”
Robert Gottheim, Nadler’s co-chief of staff, confirmed to Gothamist that there was no arrest but otherwise declined to comment. Gottheim acknowledged a Saturday email from POLITICO, and said a comment would be forthcoming.
Political Context
The rare altercation between federal officers and congressional staff in a legislator’s office comes amid growing friction over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and mass deportation efforts, which have sparked protests across the country and embroiled the administration in a battle with the courts over the legality of the president’s policies.
The incident is not the first clash between federal authorities and Democratic officials or the judiciary over immigration policy. The FBI arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan last month for allegedly assisting a man who is in the country illegally evade immigration officials who were seeking his arrest in her courthouse. Dugan pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court earlier in May.
White House border czar Tom Homan also threatened the state’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, suggesting he could become the next target for the administration’s wrath after Evers’ office issued guidance to state employees on how to deal with immigration authorities.
“Wait till you see what’s coming,” Homan told reporters about Evers’ message earlier this month. “If you cross that line of impediment or knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal alien, that is a felony. And we’ll treat it as such.”
The incident at Nadler’s office, which shares a federal building with an immigration courthouse in lower Manhattan, took place the same day as significant protests against the arrest of a Bronx high school student by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials the week prior.
According to an NYPD spokesperson, 23 people were taken into custody during the Wednesday evening protests, while 18 people were given criminal court summonses and five were arrested and charged.
