New York Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander stated on Tuesday that he rejected a plea deal for his September arrest inside 26 Federal Plaza and as an alternative will go to trial.
Picture by Dean Moses
Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander stated on Tuesday that he’s forcing the federal authorities right into a felony trial over his arrest this summer time throughout a sit-in protest at 26 Federal Plaza, the place ICE has detained a whole bunch of law-abiding immigrants.
Town’s fiscal watchdog and immigrant advocate appeared in federal courtroom on Nov. 18 and formally rejected a plea deal for his Sept. 18 arrest. Lander stated his foremost goal is to get some solutions from the federal authorities about what has been taking place inside detention areas inside Federal Plaza, the place he and different lawmakers have been repeatedly denied entry.
“Let’s be clear that crime is what ICE is doing in those detention facilities,” Lander stated earlier than strolling into federal courtroom at 500 Pearl St. on Nov. 18.
The Sept. 18 protest concerned Lander and quite a few different native elected officers who have been arrested after they tried to examine ICE detention situations on the tenth flooring of Federal Plaza. Federal brokers had positioned used opaque tape to seal the doorways to be able to forestall the elected officers from even poking by means of the cracks and seeing inside.
Lander, together with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, state Sen. Julia Salazar, Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas, state Sen. Jabari Brisport, and extra, have been all cuffed after they refused to go away the hallways of the tenth flooring.
Showing in federal courtroom on Tuesday, all the elected officers arrested within the Sept. 18 protest, besides Lander, accepted a plea deal that may end result within the prices being dropped so long as they don’t enter a federal constructing for six months.
“Let’s be clear that crime is what ICE is doing in those detention facilities,” Lander stated earlier than strolling into Federal courtroom at 500 Pearl Avenue on Nov. 18.Picture by Dean Moses 
Senator Julia Salazar and Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas arrive at courtroom.Picture by Dean Moses
The comptroller, as an alternative, stated he’s forcing a courtroom showdown to face those that arrested him in an extra try and uncover the situations of the tenth flooring.
“I requested a trial. The officers who detained us on that day have to come, and I would like to ask them questions, because those same officers were in the 10th-floor detention facilities. And if they’re going to ask us about what we were doing in the elevator bank, I want to ask them about what they were doing in the detention facilities,” Lander stated.
No trial date has been set for Lander but. The outgoing comptroller is leaving workplace on Dec. 31, and mulling a doable run for Congress in opposition to U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman.
If convicted, he might face a penalty of as much as 30 days in jail. But the outgoing comptroller stated he’s keen to take that likelihood in pursuit of each the reality and defending immigrant New Yorkers.
“We’re charged with obstructing the elevators and the stairwells. But we were all there for the same reason, which is to demand to see what is happening to our neighbors in the detention facilities at 26 Federal Plaza,” Lander stated. “If what I have to risk, you know, would be a class C federal misdemeanor or even a few days, it is worth it to stand up for the values of the city and this country.”
Senator Julia Salazar arrested.Picture by Dean Moses 
Brad Lander speaks after the courtroom listening to.Picture by Dean Moses
