NEW YORK: New York Governor Kathy Hochul has criticised federal immigration officers who she said shoved and injured journalists at a New York City courthouse.
Hochul shared a video posted to X by a New York Daily News reporter showing masked men boarding an elevator in a federal building in downtown Manhattan.
Several of the men pushed photographers near the elevator, sending at least two people crashing to the floor.
“Masked ICE agents shoved and injured journalists today at Federal Plaza,“ Hochul said on X.
She added that one reporter left on a stretcher and called the incident an abuse of law-abiding immigrants and the reporters telling their stories.
Trump has escalated immigration enforcement in Democratic-led cities as part of his bid to deport record numbers of immigrants without legal status.
ICE recently adopted a strategy of arresting migrants appearing in court for their immigration cases.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said officers were “swarmed by agitators and members of the press” while arresting “an illegal alien from Peru.”
She stated that rioters and sanctuary politicians who encourage individuals to interfere with arrests are actively creating hostile environments.
Trump officials have blamed politicians critical of ICE for fueling sentiment against officers.
ICE briefly relieved an officer of his duties on Friday after he was captured on video shoving a woman to the ground in the same New York City courthouse.
Hochul criticised the Trump administration and DHS earlier in the day over 187 million dollars in cuts to counterterrorism funding for New York.
Zohran Mamdani, the leading Democratic candidate in New York City’s mayoral race, criticised the violent acts allegedly perpetrated by ICE officers.
“We cannot accept or normalize what has now become routine violence at 26 Federal Plaza,“ he said.
A Reuters witness said a journalist from amNewYork followed ICE officers into an elevator after a woman was detained.
After one officer yelled for the journalist to be removed, other officers pushed a videographer and another reporter to the ground.
The videographer hit his head and was taken out of the building on a stretcher.
amNewYork identified photojournalist Dean Moses as one of the reporters pushed by officers.
L. Vural Elibol, a videographer with the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency, said he was trying to film ICE officers when he was pushed down.
“I was trying to get the video and someone yanked me and threw me to the ground,“ he said.
Elibol said he hurt his back and head and was removed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. – Reuters