Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso slammed ICE and questioned NYPD’s loyalties at a press conference May 4. (Photo: Cole Sinanian)
BY COLE SINANIAN
cole@queensledger.com
BUSHWICK — Hundreds of New Yorkers clashed with NYPD officers and masked federal agents outside a Bushwick hospital for more than five hours Saturday night, after word spread that ICE agents were inside with a man they had detained.
The chaotic scene began unfolding at around 9:00 p.m. at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, when local activists spotted a Chrysler minivan known to be used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) parked outside the hospital. Locally known ICE agent Brendan Cuni and his unidentified partner had taken a Nigerian man named Chidozie Wilson Okeke there for injuries he had allegedly incurred during his arrest.
An estimated 200 to 300 protesters amassed outside the hospital over the course of the night. By 10:30pm, the NYPD had arrived to control the crowd, leading to violent clashes during which cops were seen shoving and throwing New Yorkers to the ground as protesters attempted to block ICE vehicles and federal agents pepper sprayed protesters in the face. By the early hours of Sunday morning, nine people had been taken into custody.
The confrontation comes amid a recent uptick in ICE activity around the city, with ICE sightings reported in Long Island City on April 14, Crown Heights on April 21, South Ozone Park on April 22, East New York on April 28 and 29, and Corona on April 30. A total of 17 confirmed sightings have been reported since April 14, according to information provided by Hands Off NYC. ICE agents can be distinguished from local police by their vests, which are usually green and say “POLICE,” “ICE,” “ERO,” or “HSI.”
Local elected officials condemned ICE after Saturday’s incident and renewed calls for its abolition. Although New York’s sanctuary city laws prohibit the NYPD from aiding ICE with immigration enforcement, videos and eyewitness accounts from Saturday’s incident that appear to show police officers protecting ICE agents have raised questions about the NYPD’s relationship with federal authorities.
“Bushwick is very, very clear, we do not want ICE in our neighborhood,” said District 37 City councilmember Sandy Nurse, who was present at the protest Saturday night. “And not only are we saying it, we are organized. That is why 200-300 people showed up here on a Saturday night, at the drop of a hat, to show up for our neighbors.”
‘They are killing me’
Footage obtained and published by The City appears to show what happened before ICE brought Okeke to the hospital. In the video, a masked agent wearing a police vest is seen pointing a taser at a man seated in the driver’s seat of a vehicle — which a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson later identified as Okeke.
In a statement, an unnamed DHS spokesperson told The City that Okeke was not tased. The spokesperson also said that Okeke “refused to comply with officers’ lawful commands to exit the vehicle and weaponized his vehicle to attempt to hit ICE officers.” Okeke, the spokesperson said, had overstayed his visa and had been previously charged with assault and criminal drug possession.
But the video of the incident calls into question the DHS spokesperson’s claims. In it, the man can be heard screaming repeatedly as two agents appear to attempt to drag him out of the vehicle.
“Somebody help me,” the man screams at one point. “They are killing me.”
Nine people were taken into custody on the night of May 2. Photo via Micaela.
Saturday Night Chaos
Videos posted to social media show at-times violent clashes between police and residents outside Wyckoff on Saturday night. In one, posted to social media by journalist Karina Dale Gerry, an NYPD officer can be seen grabbing a protester by the shirt collar and throwing him to the ground. In other, a masked agent verbally engages a protester before shoving them and pepper spraying their face.
24-year-old Bushwick resident Micaela, who declined to give her last name, arrived outside the hospital around 10pm after seeing a post about the ICE sighting on Reddit. She said that when she arrived there were only about 60 protesters, but the crowd quickly grew to what looked like hundreds.
“We were on the sidewalk, and we kept telling the cops to go home,” she said. “They were telling us to go home, but we told them, ‘once you go home, we can go home.’”
Tensions peaked around 2:30 a.m., she said, when the two ICE agents emerged from the hospital dragging Okeke by the arms before forcing him into the car. By this point, two drones and at least one helicopter were flying overhead, she said.
“They were trying to get the detainee in the car, but we’re all blocking the car,” Micaela said. “We were throwing garbage on the floor, trying to block the exit so they wouldn’t be able to escape.”
Throughout the night, Micaela said she observed NYPD officers acting aggressively towards protesters and seemingly targeting women and weaker-looking men.
“They were clearly targeting more of the smaller people, the scrawny people, a lot of women,” she said. “The first arrest was a woman— her shirt was coming up. I told them, like, ‘Let her go, her shirt is coming up, her private parts are literally being shown.’ But they didn’t care.”
At one point, Micaela said an officer began chasing her down the street, but she was able to seek refuge in the apartment of a Bushwick neighbor who had left her window open and was helping to hide protesters from the cops.
“I’m so thankful for this neighbor in Bushwick,” Micaela said. “If anything, ICE should know not to mess with Bushwick. I think ICE needs to learn from this and realize that this is not going to happen in Bushwick ever again.”
Protesters attempted to block ICE vehicles by building trash barricades. Photo via Micaela.
Sanctuary City?
According to a spokesperson with the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI), multiple 911 calls were placed at 10:25pm on May 2 of a ”disorderly group” of about 200 protesters. Officers arrived on scene minutes later and began issuing “verbal commands to disperse.”
The spokesperson wrote that “officers observed numerous individuals acting in a disorderly manner, obstructing vehicular traffic, and blocking emergency entrances and exits at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.”
At 2:15 a.m. the ICE agents attempted to leave the hospital with Okeke in tow, the spokesperson said, but protesters blocked the exit and refused to disperse, while one reportedly broke the rear window of the ICE vehicle. Several arrests were made between 2:19 a.m. and 2:30 a.m.
Of the nine individuals taken into custody, eight were arrested and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief, while one was issued a criminal summons and later released.
“The NYPD does not conduct or participate in civil immigration enforcement,” the spokesperson wrote. “We had no prior awareness or coordination regarding the ICE operation that took place last night.”
Electeds to ICE: “Get the F— out”
Following the incident, local elected officials and community leaders slammed ICE’s conduct and questioned the police’s role in the skirmishes.
“I’ve made very clear that our laws leave nothing, no room for interpretation about the fact that our NYPD will not participate in civil and immigration enforcement,” said Mayor Mamdani during a Monday press conference.
On the morning of May 4, CM Nurse, as well as Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, and several others spoke at a press conference held across the street from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center.
Reynoso began the conference by leading a chant of “ICE Out!” Meanwhile, officers with the NYPD’s Community Affairs Bureau stood guard nearby.
“It’s us New Yorkers who pay their salary,” Reynoso said in Spanish. “So they have to protect us. Not help an organization that’s attacking immigrants.”
“‘ICE, get the F out,’” Gutiérrez said. “You have no place here, we are not safe here with you. In fact, we are going backwards.”
Other speakers praised the Bushwick community’s response to ICE appearing in the neighborhood.
“This is the reason why we know that this happened,” said Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. “Because the community came out, to send a strong message, that in this neighborhood, and in New York City, we fight for immigrants.”
“I wanna thank everybody who is organized, who has gotten trained, who has learned their rights, who is telling other people their rights, who is reporting ICE sightings,” said CM Nurse. “Please keep doing it.”
