The Department of Homeland Security is warning would-be disrupters to avoid interfering with federal immigration enforcement operations after it said a demonstrator attempted to disrupt a federal immigration arrest in New York City on Wednesday.
Nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were also detained in another part of the city later that day.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that ICE agents contacted Federal Protective Service (FPS) on Wednesday morning and “requested assistance as their officers were conducting arrests” in the lobby of a federal immigration court building.
McLaughlin said FPS officers responded and saw several protesters filming and taking pictures of law enforcement personnel in the lobby. She said that at approximately 11:45 a.m. a person attempted to forcibly interfere with ICE agents attempting to place someone in custody.
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McLaughlin said ICE reported the incident to FPS as “an assault on one of their officers.” The person was briefly taken into custody, issued a U.S. district court violation notice and released, according to McLaughlin.
In response to the incident, McLaughlin said, “Anyone who actively obstructs law enforcement in the performance of their sworn duties will of course face consequences which could include arrest.”
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Later that day, nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were detained by the New York Police Department outside a federal building in Manhattan on Wednesday night after a chaotic protest led to police struggling with demonstrators.
An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital that officers responded to a 911 call for a “disorderly group” in front of a DHS building at approximately 6:35 p.m.
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The spokesperson said that “upon arrival, officers observed approximately 20-30 demonstrators sitting in the roadway, blocking vehicular traffic” and that “the demonstrators were instructed verbally numerous times to vacate the roadway and did not comply.”
As a result, the spokesperson said 23 individuals were taken into custody, 18 individuals were issued criminal court summons and five individuals were arrested and charged, according to the NYPD spokesperson.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement this month that assaults against ICE officers rose by more than 400% from the same time last year. He placed part of the blame on politicians who “are careless with their politically motivated rhetoric.”
