Rep. Jerry Nadler was not in his office on Wednesday, when the intrusion occurred. There is an immigration court on the fifth floor of the building. Nadler's office is on the sixth floor. The building also houses DHS and other federal offices.
The trick has been used is that ICE and DHS agents wait outside of courtroom, and then the immigrants get re-arrested on exiting the courtroom.
In a video of the incident (YouTube), DHS officers enter Nadler's office and accuse staffers of "harboring rioters." One staffer is heard crying as she is handcuffed by one agent, as another agent demands entry to a private area of the office where the door has a keypad lock.
The handcuffed staffer was not arrested and eventually the handcuffs were removed. In a telephone interview, the staffer said that everything was resolved and declined to comment further.
Nadler's office would not comment on what led up to the chaotic incident, but two people who were at the courthouse to monitor ICE activity said the confrontation came after ICE officers threatened to arrest them and other advocates, and a Nadler staffer invited them inside the office.
The agents entered Nadler's office because they had been told that protesters were there and we're concerned about the safety of his staff members, according to a statement on Saturday from the Department of Homeland Security.
The statement also said that one person became confrontational and blocked access to the office, that was the lady handcuffed. In the video, a second aide standing in the doorway asks the agent to show her a warrant. The agent says they do not need a warrant and walks past her.
On Saturday, Rep. Nadler said, "The Trump administration is trying to intimidate members of Congress. They're behaving like fascists."
In the hallway outside the courtroom, federal agents questioned the observers about their presence there, and threatened to arrest them for loitering. That's when a member of Nadler's staff invited them upstairs to Nadler's office.
According to two of the advocates, ICE officers arrested a third at the courthouse. The advocates went up to Nadler's office when invited, and 20 minutes later, DHS showed up.
The video shows the handcuffed staffer asking, "What's your problem? They're here for a meeting. They're constituents."
The DHS officer responds, "Do not resist. Stop resisting."
Jerry Nadler was not happy. "President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner. In the most recent and deeply troubling incident, DHS agents forcibly entered my Congressional office and handcuffed a member of my staff... [I am] alarmed by the aggressive and heavy-handed tactics DHS is employing in New York City and across the country. If this can happen in a Member of Congress's office, it can happen to anyone --- and it is happening."
It sure is happening. You've got Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan arrested last month and charged for helping an immigrant. There was also Newark Mayor Baraka and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver scuffling with ICE agents at a detention center and arrested and charged. Baraka's charges were dropped but McIver was charged with assaulting federal officers.
This is one more incident is an all too obvious escalation of intimidation and violence by the Trump administration through DHS. No one is safe until we all are safe.
