Federal Officer Violently Shoves Photojournalist To The Ground Outside Immigration Court

An incident outside a New York immigration court led to a photographer being injured and taken to the hospital after federal officers shoved multiple journalists on Tuesday morning. The injured photojournalist, identified as L. Vural Elibol of the Turkish news agency Anadolu Ajansi by The Gothamist, was seen on the ground in a video of the incident, which showed officers forcefully pushing photographers.

This incident is part of a pattern of violence by federal officers at the immigration court in lower Manhattan. Just last week, an ICE officer was relieved of duties and then reportedly reinstated after videos showed him slamming a crying Ecuadorian woman to the ground at the same facility.

Footage of the altercation showed officers pushing photographers outside the immigration court. An officer was seen grabbing a photographer, identified as amNewYork’s Dean Moses, and pushing him out of an elevator. Another officer appeared to shove a second photographer, identified as Olga Fedorova, a freelancer who works with The Associated Press.

According to reports, Elibol was in a neck brace and on a stretcher when he was put in an ambulance. He remained semiconscious and immobile for 35 to 40 minutes.

Elibol was discharged from the hospital later that day, as per Gothamist. A spokesperson for Anadolu Agency did not immediately provide an update on his condition.

The incident was described by a DHS spokesperson as a response to interference with an arrest at 26 Federal Plaza. City leaders including Public Advocate Jumaane Williams condemned the violence by federal officers and their treatment of the press.

In a statement, Williams criticized the attack on the First Amendment, calling it unacceptable.