In an incident in Manhattan, federal agents handcuffed a staff member at Representative Jerrold Nadler's congressional office. The confrontation, which was captured on video, escalated inside the office located in the Varick Street building, also home to the federal immigration court. According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security stated that Federal Protective Service officers arrived at the scene in response to reports of protesters hiding inside Nadler's office.
During the visit, agents encountered four individuals and proceeded to conduct a security check after being allowed entry. The situation intensified when a staffer became "verbally confrontational" and obstructed the officers' access, leading them to detain the individual in the hallway. Representative Nadler later condemned the incident, stating, "The decision to enter a Congressional office and detain a staff member demonstrates a deeply troubling disregard for proper legal boundaries." He further accused President Trump and the DHS of "using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner," as per a statement obtained by CBS News. The DHS clarified that all individuals were released without further incident.
According to The New York Post, Nadler argued against the administration's tactics, saying, "They’re behaving like fascists. We have to fight them. We don’t want to be a fascist country." The White House, when reached for comment on the incident, did not immediately respond.
Footage from the encounter shows a distressed female staffer being aggressively restrained by an agent as an onlooking employee demanded a warrant and tried to prevent a second officer from entering a more private section of the office. An agent can be heard in the video, arguing, "We have the right to check. You are harboring rioters in the office," a statement that led to granting the officer access to the back office. This security check followed reports of previous incidents at a nearby facility, leading FPS officers to ensure the "safety and wellbeing of those present," Homeland Security officials explained to The New York Post.
