Footage taken by freelance photojournalist Stephanie Keith exhibits wild scenes on the twelfth flooring of the federal constructing in decrease Manhattan, the place members of town’s press corps have been stationed each day to doc the detention of a whole bunch of individuals attending hearings in immigration court docket amid Trump’s escalating crackdown.
The video exhibits a bunch of brokers in masks, balaclavas, and bulletproof vests strolling into an elevator with two girls, who witnesses mentioned had simply left a listening to however had not been detained, as a photojournalist for amNewYork, Dean Moses, follows together with his digicam. Brokers then grabbed him and shoved him out.
“Get out the f—ing elevator!” one agent is heard shouting within the footage.
Federal brokers take away Dean Moses, photographer for AM New York, out of an elevator whereas detaining an immigrant on the Jacob Ok. Javits federal courthouse on September 30, 2025 in New York Metropolis. Federal brokers have been detaining an immigrant when the altercation started. (Photograph by Stephanie Keith/Getty Pictures)
Freelance journalist Olga Fedorova begins to doc the scene from simply outdoors the elevator’s entrance when an agent seems to forcefully shove her to the bottom.
L. Vural Elibol, a chief cameraman and videographer for the Andalou Company, is tended to after being injured on the Jacob Ok. Javits federal courthouse on September 30, 2025 in New York Metropolis. Federal brokers have been detaining an immigrant in an elevator when the altercation started. (Photograph by Stephanie Keith/Getty Pictures)
“They pushed me off, and as another guy pulled me from behind, I hear the other [journalists] fall,” he continued. “I just heard the resounding thud as they hit the floor.”
L. Vural Elibol (partially hidden), a chief cameraman and videographer for the Andalou Company, is tended to after being injured on the Jacob Ok. Javits federal courthouse on September 30, 2025 in New York Metropolis. Federal brokers have been detaining an immigrant in an elevator when the altercation started. (Photograph by Stephanie Keith/Getty Pictures)
The incident marks the newest in a string of controversies to play out on the scandal-plagued federal facility, together with an incident final week captured in extensively circulated scenes of ICE brokers forcefully shoving a younger lady to the ground, leading to an agent’s transient suspension.
Greater than a dozen native officers have been arrested on the constructing earlier this month after attempting to examine the constructing’s tenth flooring, the place immigrants are initially detained. The holding space is the topic of an ongoing lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court docket, through which a choose lately ordered DHS to enhance reportedly inhumane circumstances.
DHS has additionally refused to permit members of Congress entry to the tenth flooring.
“Donald Trump’s ICE in action: Just days after one officer was disciplined for slamming a detainee’s wife to the ground, masked agents are now assaulting journalists and even sending one to the hospital. This is a direct attack on our First Amendment, our right to a free press, and should not happen in a democracy. Every officer involved must be held accountable without delay,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) mentioned in a press release on X Tuesday in response to Keith’s video.
EMS arrives to deal with L. Vural Elibol, a chief cameraman and videographer for the Andalou Company, who was injured on the Jacob Ok. Javits federal courthouse on September 30, 2025 in New York Metropolis. Federal brokers have been detaining an immigrant in an elevator when the altercation started. (Photograph by Stephanie Keith/Getty Pictures)
A whole lot of individuals turning as much as court-mandated hearings for asylum functions and different immigration proceedings have been detained on the decrease Manhattan advanced amid the Trump administration ramping up its mass deportation agenda.
Masked and armed brokers have been routinely grabbing individuals as they stroll out of courtrooms, together with many individuals who had moments earlier been instructed they have been protected within the nation in the meanwhile by immigration judges.
The method has led to accusations that the federal authorities is concentrating on individuals following the regulation as low-hanging fruit, regardless of Trump’s claims that they’re concentrating on criminals.
Immigration judges, legal professionals for the DHS, and ICE brokers are all a part of the chief department, which means they finally reply to Trump.
EMS arrives to deal with L. Vural Elibol, a chief cameraman and videographer for the Andalou Company, who was injured on the Jacob Ok. Javits federal courthouse on September 30, 2025 in New York Metropolis. Federal brokers have been detaining an immigrant in an elevator when the altercation started. (Photograph by Stephanie Keith/Getty Pictures)
Keith, who has been documenting the scene at 26 Federal Plaza each day, mentioned she had not witnessed that form of aggression in the direction of media members from federal brokers till Tuesday morning.
“This is definitely the most egregious example for sure,” she mentioned. “I’ve never seen them be that violent with the press … Normally, they do yell at us a lot, but they don’t put their hands on us.”
Initially Revealed: September 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM EDT
