{"id":219845,"date":"2026-05-04T22:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T22:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219845\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T22:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T22:04:49","slug":"brooklyn-ice-protest-immigrant-man-had-been-violently-pulled-from-car-by-feds-hours-before-hospital-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219845\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn ICE protest: Immigrant man had been violently pulled from car by feds hours before hospital chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Immigration Coalition<\/a> released on Monday dramatic images that show ICE agents pulling a man from a parked car in Brooklyn on Saturday in an operation that would later spark a massive protest outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.<\/p>\n

As amNewYork reported<\/a>, chaos unfolded on Saturday night outside the hospital in Bushwick after ICE agents brought an injured person into the emergency room, sparking fear and fury throughout the community. Word of the man\u2019s arrest and hospitalization quickly spread, bringing scores of protesters to Wyckoff Hospital just before 10 p.m. A number of protesters and at least four NYPD officers<\/a> were injured after, a law enforcement source said, an ICE agent unleashed pepper spray on the crowd during the unrest.<\/p>\n

Still, the exact reason the detained man was brought to the medical center remained unclear until Monday. The footage that NYIC provided showed the man \u2014 whom the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified as Chidozie Wilson Okeke \u2014 screaming for mercy as several federal agents pulled him from the car earlier that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI need to talk to my lawyer,\u201d he yelled over and over again as a masked federal officer pointed a taser at him. \u201cSomebody help me!\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\"\"The New York immigration coalition released on Monday dramatic images that show ICE agents pull a man from a parked car that would later spark a massive protest outside Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn.The New York immigration coalition \"AnAn investigation is underway Sunday after chaos erupted outside a hospital in Brooklyn late on Saturday night when masked ICE agents brought a man there after arresting him in an apparent enforcement operation.Dakota Santiago\/ FreedomNews.TV<\/p>\n

The detained man continued to frantically scream as he was pulled from the vehicle and handcuffed on the ground, with one of the agents placing a knee on him. The same man was later, during the early hours of the morning, seen being dragged from the hospital by ICE agents after he was taken there for medical attention following the arrest.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery New Yorker, no matter when they arrived here, should feel safe to live their lives without being brutalized by masked ICE terrorists. On multiple occasions in recent months, ICE has put New Yorkers in the hospital through their violent and unlawful tactics \u2013 and DHS constantly lies to the American public to justify terrorizing, brutalizing, and even killing people. This weekend, when a New Yorker was put in the hospital by ICE \u2013 while he repeatedly asked to speak to his lawyer \u2013 they once again showed their disregard for the law and their disrespect for immigrant New Yorkers\u2019 lives,\u201d Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition said.<\/p>\n

In response to the arrest, hundreds of New Yorkers arrived outside of Wyckoff Hospital, prompting a massive response from the NYPD and ending in nine people being taken into custody.<\/p>\n

The response to latest ICE arrest<\/p>\n

New Yorkers involved in the protest and several elected officials accused the NYPD of breaching sanctuary city laws by working with ICE agents. <\/p>\n

On Monday, during another protest outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, elected officials including Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso condemned the police response, which included clearing the path for federal authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a sanctuary city, so we don\u2019t want the NYPD helping ICE in any way, shape or form. We need to make sure that there\u2019s no opportunity where there\u2019s any collaboration with ICE and NYPD, we don\u2019t want any assistance, don\u2019t hold their doors, don\u2019t push them through,\u201d Reynoso charged. \u201cThis is a city that stands up for immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"On Monday politicians like Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, condemned the police response which included clearing the path for federal authorities.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n

An NYPD spokesperson told amNewYork that they had no prior notice of ICE enforcement and denied any collaboration, adding that they responded to 911 calls of a disorderly crowd. Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> echoed those comments on May 4 during an unrelated press conference in the Bronx.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no prior coordination or planning between the NYPD and ICE ahead of this incident,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cNYPD officers were not dispatched to the hospital to participate or facilitate an ICE operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani added that city laws leave \u201cno room for interpretation\u201d \u2014 that the NYPD \u201cwill not participate in civil immigration enforcement.\u201d He also criticized ICE raids broadly, calling them \u201ccruel\u201d and \u201cinhumane.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about videos showing police force against protesters, Mamdani said he had seen one in which an officer was \u201cgrabbing a New Yorker and throwing them onto the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is incredibly disturbing, and that is being actively investigated right now,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

In a follow-up, Mamdani said \u201cthere cannot be any work in coordination with ICE, in planning with ICE\u201d and \u201cthere cannot be any assistance in civil immigration enforcement.\u201d He said the city would continue reviewing response protocols when ICE is present.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mamdani added that city laws leave \u201cno room for interpretation,\u201d that the NYPD \u201cwill not participate in civil immigration enforcement.\u201d He also criticized ICE raids broadly, calling them \u201ccruel\u201d and \u201cinhumane.\u201dPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell
\nDHS claims about detained man in Brooklyn<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the DHS made claims about the man ICE took into custody over the weekend, calling him a \u201ccriminal illegal alien\u201d \u2014 their terminology for an undocumented person.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring his arrest, Okeke refused to comply with officers\u2019 lawful commands to exit the vehicle and weaponized his vehicle to attempt to hit ICE officers. Okeke became physically combative, attempting to punch and elbow ICE officers. Our officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest,\u201d Homeland Security wrote on X. \u201cAfter his arrest, Okeke requested medical assistance, so ICE officers escorted him to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center for a medical evaluation. Okeke remained non-compliant during the medical evaluation, throwing himself to the floor and screaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The video release does not appear to show Okeke displaying the combative behavior that DHS claimed.\n<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Council Member Sandy Nurse, who witnessed the May 2 protest, condemned ICE\u2019s actions.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are spending billions of dollars on detention camps where families that are separated are being held in outrageous, inhumane conditions, all in the name of public safety. But what about the safety of access to health care? What about the safety of access to high-quality public education? What about the safety of affordable housing that\u2019s safe and stable? We have to prioritize our community,\u201d Nurse said. <\/p>\n

\"\"Council Member Sandy Nurse, who witnessed the protest that night, condemned ICE for their actions.Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Immigration Coalition released on Monday dramatic images that show ICE agents pulling a man from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,2035,9,24,63,103,6986],"class_list":["post-219845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-ice","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-nypd","tag-protest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}