Federal Agents Clash with Journalists at NYC Immigration Court

Fri Oct 10 2025 19:24:22 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

An intimidating confrontation between federal agents and journalists outside a New York City immigration court raises concerns over press freedom.

Federal agents clashed with journalists outside a New York City immigration court, resulting in one journalist being hospitalized. The incident occurred as journalists attempted to document arrests made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Homeland Security defended the actions of the agents, alleging that they were swarmed by agitators, while local officials condemned the use of force against both the press and law-abiding immigrants.

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal agents grabbed and shoved journalists in a hallway outside a New York City immigration court on Tuesday, sending one to the hospital in the latest clash between authorities enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and members of the public seeking to observe and document their actions.

A visual journalist identified as L. Vural Elibol of the Turkish news agency Anadolu hit his head on the floor at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pushed one journalist off a public elevator and shoved another journalist to the floor, according to video and witnesses.

A bystander held Elibol’s head while a nurse treated him until an ambulance arrived, witnesses said. Video showed him in a neck brace being wheeled out of the building on a stretcher. The other journalists, amNewYork police bureau chief Dean Moses and Olga Fedorova, a freelance photographer, were not seriously injured.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the agents’ actions, saying they were being "swarmed by agitators and members of the press, which obstructed operations." Officers repeatedly instructed the crowd to move back, she noted, emphasizing that rioters and sanctuary politicians put public safety at risk.

Moses reported that the situation escalated quickly when agents forcibly ejected him from the elevator as he attempted to photograph an arrest. Fedorova, who fell after an agent shoved her, highlighted that journalists had been operating in the area without issue until now, lamenting the lack of clear communication from the agents about the nature of their operations.

The encounter follows similar incidents at the same location, raising alarms over a perceived pattern of aggressive enforcement. Both state and local Democratic officials criticized the actions taken by federal agents, expressing outrage over both the treatment of journalists and law-abiding immigrants. New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated on social media, "This abuse of law-abiding immigrants and the reporters telling their stories must end. What the hell are we doing here?" State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani called the violence routine and unacceptable.