The bench trial of former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander over his arrest at the city’s immigration court last fall got underway on Wednesday in Manhattan.
What Lander is accused of
Lander, along with several other New York City elected officials, was detained at 26 Federal Plaza in June and September of 2025 while demanding access to the 10th-floor holding cells.
Charges against Lander were later dropped in the June incident. As for his Sept. 18 arrest, prosecutors are accusing Lander of causing a disturbance on federal property. They argue he was blocking an elevator and ignored warnings to move.
The former city comptroller’s defense attorney, however, argues he did not block the elevator.
Lander again on Wednesday denied he did anything wrong.
“We explained why we were there. We told some of the stories of immigrants in our lives and we waited patiently, but rather than allow us access to the detention facilities, Federal Protective Services agents abruptly arrested all of us,” Lander said.
Lander has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 71 people, including two state senators and nine state Assembly members, were arrested that day.
Lander continues pursuit of 10th District House seat
Lander’s bench trial comes as he continues his bid to unseat Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District.
Lander and Goldman are locked in an intense battle to win the June 23 primary in the district, which includes Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, but they recently dialed down the attacks on each other and instead took President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies to task.
On June 1, they stood on opposite corners near the federal buildings in Lower Manhattan, where the feds began something known as “mega master” immigration hearings. Both said the hearings are geared to help the administration increase deportations.
“Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s evil mass deportation regime is constantly looking for new ways to mass remove our neighbors with or without the rule,” Lander said. “So now they are trying on the first day of June a new tactic, these mega master calenderings designed to mass remove people, again, with or without the rule of law.”
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