Overview
- Hundreds gathered outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center after ICE brought a detainee there for a medical evaluation late Saturday, following online posts that showed agents with the man inside the hospital.
- Video from around 2 a.m. Sunday shows agents dragging a handcuffed man outside as they carried a large pepper-spray canister, and witnesses said an ICE agent deployed spray that left people, including officers, needing treatment.
- Police said eight people were arrested and one person received a summons on charges that included resisting arrest, criminal mischief and obstructing governmental administration after hours of standoffs and scuffles.
- DHS identified the detainee as Chidozie Wilson Okeke of Nigeria and said he overstayed a tourist visa, had prior arrests for assault and drug possession, resisted arrest, and remained combative during his hospital evaluation, while also alleging protesters damaged ICE vehicles and injured officers.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the federal action, said the NYPD did not coordinate with ICE, and ordered reviews of video and protocols as local officials and advocates accused police of aiding agents in a city that bars help with civil immigration enforcement amid stepped-up ICE activity nationwide.