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Brad Lander Rejects Federal Deal, Seeks Trial Over 26 Federal Plaza Arrest

Prosecutors offered to drop cases for other lawmakers if they stayed off federal property for six months.

Overview

  • Lander declined the offer after mediation in Manhattan federal court and will face a federal misdemeanor trial tied to the Sept. 18 attempt to access the building’s 10th-floor holding area.
  • He is charged with obstruction for allegedly blocking access points inside the federal building that houses ICE offices and could face up to 30 days in jail if convicted.
  • State senators and assembly members who were arrested alongside Lander accepted the six-month stay-away arrangement, according to the lawmakers and their attorneys.
  • Advocacy videos alleged cramped, unsanitary conditions on the 10th floor, while DHS has stated the building is not a detention center and called claims of overcrowding false.
  • A federal judge’s August order limited how many people ICE can hold at the site, and transfers out of the building have moved faster since then, THE CITY reported.