Overview
- U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo acquitted Lander on Thursday, June 11, 2026, saying prosecutors failed to prove he 'unreasonably obstructed' elevator use during the September 18, 2025 protest.
- Lander was arrested with other officials while seeking to inspect 10th-floor holding rooms at 26 Federal Plaza because of reported crowding and poor conditions, and he refused a plea deal so he could seek discovery and preserve his right to protest.
- The case was a one-day bench trial in Manhattan in which prosecutors narrowed the charge to alleged elevator obstruction, preventing broader document discovery about ICE operations that Lander had sought.
- The verdict arrives days before the June 23 Democratic primary in New York’s 10th District and has already drawn partisan reactions from Lander and his rival, Rep. Dan Goldman.
- The decision highlights the federal court’s limits on prosecuting low-level protest actions at the federal complex and underscores ongoing disputes over ICE arrests and access to detainees at 26 Federal Plaza, an issue that has prompted recent court orders restricting routine enforcement at some Manhattan immigration courts.