The
fascism
is
real,
y’all.
Current
New
York
City
Comptroller
and
candidate
for
mayor
Brad
Lander
was
arrested
by
masked
federal
ICE
agents
as
he
exited
an
immigration
courtroom.
There’s
video
of
the
incident,
and
it’s
deeply
chilling,
particularly
in
a
so-called
democracy.
Lander
can
be
heard
in
the
video
saying,
“I’m
not
obstructing
–
I’m
standing
right
here
in
the
hallway,
I
asked
to
see
the
judicial
warrant.
You
don’t
have
authority
to
arrest
a
U.S.
citizen
asking
for
a
judicial
warrant.”
Getting
arrested
for
asking
questions
is
a
disturbing
new
trend
for
the
Trump
administration.
In
the
midst
of
promises
of
“mass
deportations”
from
the
administration
where
ICE
is
targeting
immigration
courts
for
arrests,
Lander
spent
the
morning
observing
immigration
court
hearings
and
told
the
AP
he
was
accompanying
immigrants
out
of
the
building.
That’s
when
Lander
was
detained
by
federal
agents.
At
a
press
conference
following
the
arrest,
Lander’s
wife,
Meg
Barnette,
said
her
husband
had
tried
to
link
arms
with
a
man
following
his
immigration
court
hearing
when
“we
were
swarmed
by
a
number
of
federal
agents.”“They
said,
‘You’re
obstructing,’”
Barnette
said.
“I
was
shoved
out
of
the
way.”“What
I
saw
was
shocking
and
unacceptable,”
she
added.
“What
I
saw
today
was
not
the
rule
of
law.”
She
continued,
“This
is
a
place
where
the
rule
of
law
is
supposed
to
work.
I
was
able
to
call
our
attorney
and
retain
him
immediately
for
Brad.”
“Because
we
have
the
connections
and
the
means
to
do
so.
Nobody
else
in
those
courtrooms
has
that.
I
am
confident
that
Brad’s
going
to
be
out
soon
…
This
is
just
one
more
example
of
Brad’s
values
in
actions.
He
doesn’t
just
talk
the
talk.
He
walks
the
walk.
He
cares
about
what
happens
to
people.”
In
addition
to
Mamdani,
several
of
Lander’s
opponents
in
the
mayoral
contest
wasted
little
time
condemning
the
federal
agents
for
the
arrest.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].