Dem Congressman Blasts 'Deeply Troubling' DHS Handcuffing Of Staffer In New York Office

In the video, a DHS agent can be seen handcuffing a staffer who is distressed and crying. A second agent is seen attempting to enter another room in the office, which is occupied by a second staff member. That staffer then asks if he has a warrant and the agent says he doesn’t need one, and accuses the office of “harboring rioters.”

Nadler raised alarm about DHS’s conduct, noting that “no arrests were made” and that “the situation was quickly de-escalated,” but that it was disturbing that the incident took place at all.

“The decision to enter a Congressional office and detain a staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries,” Nadler wrote. “If this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone–and is happening.”

In its statement regarding the incident, a senior DHS official told HuffPost that members of the Federal Protective Service “responded to information that protesters were present inside U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s District Office in Manhattan, New York.” That statement also claimed that agents visited the office to “ensure the safety and well-being of those present” due to “earlier incidents in a nearby facility.”

The statement does not reference remarks that the DHS agent made about the office “harboring rioters,” and has been contested by Nadler’s chief of staff Robert Gottheim, who has called it a “total fabrication and lie.”

“DHS’s statement that they were coming in for a safety check doesn’t mesh with the video,” Gottheim told The New York Daily News, adding that the staffer who was handcuffed is “traumatized.”

Nadler’s Manhattan office is located in the same building as an immigration court where DHS agents were also detaining immigrants that day, The New York Times reports. Gottheim told The Times that staffers witnessed these confrontations and invited immigration advocates to the office, which upset DHS agents.

“Upon arrival, officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals,” the DHS official said. “Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office. The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident.”

DHS agents’ detention of Nadler’s staffer follows multiple cases of federal law enforcement penalizing Democratic leaders. Previously, ICE officers arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka while he was visiting a New Jersey detention facility. And New Jersey’s federal prosecutor has also charged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with assault over her alleged actions at the facility during that same visit.

Nadler condemned the “aggressive and heavy-handed tactics” employed by DHS against his office and immigrants in general in his statement. “Trump and the Department of Homeland Security are sowing chaos in our communities,” he wrote.