The trial of former New York City comptroller and congressional candidate Brad Lander began Wednesday in Manhattan federal court over his arrest on Sept. 18, 2025, during an attempt to inspect Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold rooms at 26 Federal Plaza.
Prosecutors say Lander was cited for a violation after allegedly obstructing the elevator bank and elevator lobby on the 10th floor of the federal building that houses a major immigration court. "Today’s trial is for the court to decide a narrow issue: whether on September 18, 2025, Bradford Lander unreasonably obstructed the usual use of the elevators and the elevator lobby on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza," prosecutor Ariel Cohen told Magistrate Judge Henry Ricardo.
Cohen said Lander ignored repeated instructions to move and began chanting, "We shall not be moved."
Defense attorney Michael Bass countered that Lander "did not block an elevator on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza. He did not block an elevator lobby. He did not block an elevator bank." Bass said Lander—then the New York City comptroller and now a candidate for the Democratic congressional seat held by Dan Goldman—went to the 10th floor to inspect what his team described as ICE's "makeshift" detention area out of concern for constituents' safety.
"Although the immediate dispute is narrow—essentially a question about alleged elevator blocking—this case raises larger concerns about the suppression of dissent," Bass said. "Arrest is the bludgeon of suppression and this case is yet another example of the administration’s suppression of political dissent."
According to court filings from Lander’s lawyers, the officials visited 26 Federal Plaza after a federal judge, Lewis Kaplan, granted plaintiffs a preliminary injunction on Sept. 17 ordering the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to improve conditions in the building’s hold rooms. Lander and 10 other elected officials say they sought to verify ICE's compliance with that order.
The defense filing says the group—allowed into the building after identifying themselves as elected officials—was stopped on the 10th floor by security near the elevator bank and the double doors leading to the hold rooms. The visitors agreed to remain quietly on the floor after an officer said they could stay so long as they did not bang on the doors. They then sat, chanted and sang while continuing to request entry, the filing says. An officer warned they would be arrested if they refused to leave; the filing says officers began arrests 33 seconds after that warning.
Lander's team also cites court records showing average hold times at 26 Federal Plaza rose sharply this year: an average of six hours between January and April 2025 jumped to a mean of 103 hours by mid-June 2025. Some detainees sued, alleging overcrowded and unsanitary conditions; Judge Kaplan ordered improvements.
Federal prosecutors later offered to drop the violation in October if Lander agreed not to protest inside any federal building for six months; he declined that condition. The case centers on the narrow legal question of whether Lander unlawfully obstructed use of the elevators, but both sides framed the dispute in broader political and civil-liberties terms.
Key Legal Issue: Whether Lander "unreasonably obstructed" elevator access on Sept. 18, 2025, as charged by federal prosecutors.
