A reporter with The Associated Press witnessed Lander’s arrest at a federal building in Manhattan. The person Lander was walking out of the courtroom was also arrested.
Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter that he was there to “accompany” some immigrants out of the building.
The episode occurred as federal immigration officials are conducting large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country.
Emailed inquiries to the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were not immediately returned.
