More than five dozen people were taken into custody Tuesday night during a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policies in Manhattan.
Prompted by the alleged appearance of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at a Hilton Garden Inn in Tribeca, a crowd of protesters rallied at the Sixth Avenue hotel in Tribeca.
The group flooded the hotel lobby around 6 p.m., chanting and carrying signs in protest of the hotel company’s reported housing of federal immigration agents. Their signs read: “Hilton, don’t let ICE stay,” and “Hilton: stop housing ICE.”
Protesters said they have been scoping out the hotel and witnessed federal agents coming and going daily.
“This hotel, our scouts have seen a staging area, we’ve seen ICE coming in and out of there. We don’t want what’s happening in Minneapolis to happen in New York City,” activist Liv Seghon said.
The NYPD said responding officials gave the protesters repeated commands to leave and, after nearly an hour, moved in to clear the hotel lobby.
A total of 66 people, according to the department, were taken into custody. Sixty-four people were issued summonses for trespassing and disorderly conduct, and two others were issued desk appearance tickets for resisting arrest. No injuries were reported to officers or protesters.
It wasn’t clear if ICE agents were staying at the Hilton Garden when the protest happened. No one from the Department of Homeland Security responded to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Zohran Mamdani said the mayor was “pleased” that the protest “concluded without violence.”
“Mayor Mamdani commends the protestors who exercised their right to protest against ICE today. As he has said, ICE is a rogue agency that has repeatedly carried out cruel, inhumane, and lawless raids and arrests of American citizens,” the statement read.
“The mayor is also pleased with the NYPD’s response to the protest and that today’s demonstration concluded without violence.”