Ex-NYC Comptroller Found Not Guilty Of Charges After Immigration Court Arrest

NEW YORK CITY — A Manhattan federal judge acquitted former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander of obstructing ICE operations at 26 Federal Plaza last year on Thursday.

Prosecutors had accused Lander of sitting in front of an elevator alongside other politicians as ICE agents were taken to a person into custody at 26 Federal Plaza.

The NY-10 congressional candidate testified in court that ICE agents did not tell him to step away from the elevator or told him he was obstructing it before his arrest.

Judge Henry Ricardo on Thursday said he could not find any evidence of obstruction of an elevator at 26 Federal Plaza.

“The government failed to prove its case,” Ricardo said.

Lander alongside nearly a dozen other elected officials were arrested at 26 Federal Plaza last September.

"All we want at 26 Federal Plaza is for everybody facing removal proceedings by our government to have the same access to the rule of law as I had in this trial. That's why I took this case to trial, and that's why, whatever happens on June 23rd, I will keep showing up to protect our immigrant neighbors and insist that the rule of law apply to everyone," Lander told reporters on Thursday.

Lander is running in the New York 10th Congressional District race against U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman.