BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (WABC) — An ICE raid at a hospital in Brooklyn has sparked outrage and questions about whether NYPD officers helped ICE agents.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani says police went to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick over the weekend in response to 911 calls about a chaotic protest.<\/p>\n
Video posted on social media appeared to show police throwing a person to the ground. Demonstrators told Eyewitness News they were at the hospital trying to prevent ICE from deporting a migrant.<\/p>\n
“We don’t want NYPD helping ICE in any way, shape or form,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.<\/p>\n
Thirty-six hours after the melee; anger is still simmering in Bushwick.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of neighbors and activists flooded the street outside the emergency room at the hospital on Saturday night, after ICE agents brought an injured Nigerian migrant for treatment.<\/p>\n
NYPD officers struggled to control the demonstrators, who were determined to prevent the agents from leaving with the migrant in custody. They smashed windows in the agents’ car and tossed trash into the street to block them from leaving.<\/p>\n
The migrant, identified as Chidozie Wilson Okeke, was finally lifted and dragged to a waiting car only after police cleared the way. One neighbor was among the protesters.<\/p>\n
“There is no way that ICE could have exited the hospital, and taken that person, without NYPD violently arresting protesters and rapid responders, without NYPD clearing the path,” said the unnamed neighbor.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for ICE claimed that Okeke had prior arrests for assault and drug possession and had overstayed his tourist visa. They say he was brought to the ER for treatment after resisting arrest.<\/p>\n
The New York Immigration Coalition claims a video shows ICE agents pointing a taser at Okeke, while behind the wheel of a car.<\/p>\n
“This was not a protest. This was a community coming to defend against our neighbors because we don’t want ICE here in this community,” said New York City Councilmember Sandy Nurse.<\/p>\n
Critics believe the officers facilitated the deportation in violation of New York’s Sanctuary City laws, which forbid police from cooperating in civil deportations. Mayor Mamdani disagrees.<\/p>\n
“NYPD officers were not dispatched to the hospital to participate or facilitate an ICE operation. Rather, they were responding to 911 calls regarding a protest outside of the hospital,” Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
But the mayor said NYPD commanders are following up on the video, which shows one demonstrator being grabbed and aggressively thrown to the ground.<\/p>\n
“That is incredibly disturbing and that is being actively investigated right now,” Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
Eight people were charged with resisting arrest and reckless endangerment.<\/p>\n
It all comes as activists claim that ICE operations in Brooklyn are on the rise.<\/p>\n
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