Brad Lander released without charges after arrest at NYC court: Hochul

NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) -- New York City Comptroller Brad Lander has been released without charges, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced hours after his arrest at a courthouse.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said prosecutors are still investigating the incident involving Lander and will prosecute any violations of federal law, including assaults on law enforcement.

The Department of Homeland Security has accused Lander of doing just that, which the mayoral candidate has denied.

"You guys all saw it on video, so you know exactly what happened," Lander said. "I certainly did not assault an officer."

In a video posted to social media by Lander's wife, the comptroller can be heard repeatedly asking for a judicial warrant. Lander said he was escorting a defendant out of immigration court, with whom he had locked arms.

"I will let go when you show me the judicial warrant," Lander can be heard saying.

In a news conference Tuesday, Hochul said, "There are no charges." Even if charges are brought, Lander said he has a lawyer to protect his due process rights.

"He walks out of there a free man," Hochul said.

Lander noted that while he gets to sleep in his bed with his family tonight, many others do not, like the man Lander was accompanying in court when he was detained.

"Our country is better than that," Lander said. "We are normalizing family separation, we are normalizing due process rights violations, we are normalizing the destruction of constitutional democracy."