A chief cameraman working with Anadolu Agency (AA), Vural Elibol, was injured Tuesday after being assaulted by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at a federal court building in Manhattan.
The incident occurred during ongoing immigration court proceedings at 26 Federal Plaza, where Elibol was documenting arrests.
According to witnesses, Elibol was thrown to the ground and hit his head, leaving him unable to move. He was promptly hospitalized. Other journalists at the scene reported that ICE officers demanded Elibol “get out of the elevator,” although he was already outside when the scuffle began. Footage from the incident, shot by Elibol, captured the aggressive behavior of the officers.
The incident drew swift condemnation from New York state officials. Governor Kathy Hochul criticized ICE agents for assaulting journalists, highlighting that one reporter was taken away on a stretcher. She described the attack as “abuse of law-abiding immigrants and the reporters telling their stories” and emphasized that such behavior must end.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also condemned the actions of the federal officers, calling the “aggressive and violent treatment” of immigrants, public officials and journalists at 26 Federal Plaza unacceptable. “This administration cannot harm others who are following the rules and exercising their constitutional rights,” she stated on X.
The altercation extended to other journalists present at the courthouse. Video footage shows masked federal officers forcefully removing AM New York reporter Dean Moses from a public elevator. Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova, working for The Associated Press (AP), was reportedly shoved by another ICE officer during the same period.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, described the incident as part of a pattern of aggressive ICE conduct at the courthouse. He referenced an earlier encounter five days prior, in which an ICE agent shoved a woman inquiring about her detained husband. “We cannot accept or normalize what has now become routine violence at 26 Federal Plaza. It has no place in our city,” Mamdani wrote on X.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed concern over the incident, emphasizing that violence and intimidation against reporters are never acceptable. Katherine Jacobsen, CPJ’s U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator, called for an end to the “secrecy and scare tactics around reporting on ICE operations in this country.”
The attack on Elibol underscores growing concerns about the safety of journalists covering immigration enforcement in the United States. The ongoing scrutiny of ICE operations has placed reporters in vulnerable positions, with advocacy groups and state officials urging federal authorities to respect press freedom and civil rights.
