New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “All In” his arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Manhattan was part of an attempt by President Donald Trump to turn the United States into a “police state.”
Lander said, “Trump is trying to ratchet up conflict. He wants it to happen. That’s what today was about. That’s what doing this to ICE agents about. That’s what sending the National Guard into LA is. And it’s part of our challenge. We have to show up and do things like I did today, and we have to find ways to do it that are de-escalating because we can’t allow them to use conflict and violence to turn it into a police state.”
He continued, “I had hoped what would happen was what happened last week and the week before that, I could walk peacefully out of the building with these families so they could reunite with their kids and continue to make their application for asylum. That is all I wanted.”
He added, “What I can see is that Trump is trying to escalate conflict. He wants to bait and provoke, and we have to find a way, I mean, look, this is what the nonviolent tradition is, you find a way to bear witness, to accompany people, and to do it in ways that don’t escalate violence or conflict. That is our challenge.”
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