Lander acquitted of wrongdoing in ICE encounter weeks before congressional primary
A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday cleared former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander of charges he obstructed an elevator at a downtown immigration detention center last year, handing the congressional candidate a legal victory only three days before the start of early voting.
Magistrate Judge Henry Ricardo said he could not find any evidence of “actual obstruction” of an elevator at 26 Federal Plaza. “The government failed to prove its case,” Ricardo said from the bench following a day-long trial.
The acquittal comes as Lander, a progressive Democrat, challenges Rep. Dan Goldman to represent Lower Manhattan in Congress. The alleged offense was relatively minor, but the trial drew intense scrutiny, with observers spilling into an overflow room at the federal courthouse to watch the proceedings.
Lander has made his court-watching activities at 26 Federal Plaza a key part of his recent campaigns. A video depicting the first time he was arrested while accompanying a man to immigration court gave him a huge boost in last year’s mayoral primary, which he ultimately lost. Many rival mayoral candidates and activists rushed to Foley Square to support Lander and condemn ICE.
“I feel genuinely moved by the rule of law,” Lander said after Thursday's verdict. ”What a blessing to live in a country where if the government arrests you and charges you with something, you could count on the ability to go in and make the government prove its case.”
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... I mean, how about a government that doesn't throw bullshit charges at political opponents and forces them to pay thousands in legal fees, can we ask for that?
Would also be nice if there were, say, consequences for laying bogus charges on someone. This is just more confirmation that government can drag any of us through the criminal "justice" system with impunity. Most people would end up broken by that alone.