9 individuals had been taken into custody Saturday evening after an anti-ICE protest passed off outdoors of the Wyckoff Heights Medical Heart within the New York Metropolis borough of Brooklyn, in line with the NYPD.
The Division of Homeland Safety mentioned in an announcement to ABC Information that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian nationwide whom they declare was beforehand arrested for assault and prison drug possession.
ABC Information has not independently verified claims about Okeke’s alleged prison historical past.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seal is seen earlier than a press convention discussing ongoing enforcement efforts to fight human smuggling alongside the Southwest border of the USA, July 22, 2014, at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C. AFP Picture/Paul J. Richards (Picture by Paul J. RICHARDS / AFP) (Picture by PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Paul J. Richards/AFP by way of Getty Photos
The DHS assertion mentioned that through the arrest, Okeke “weaponized his automobile” in an alleged try and hit ICE officers and “turned bodily combative making an attempt to punch and elbow ICE officers.” Okeke additionally “requested medical help” after the arrest, in line with DHS, and was taken to the Wyckoff Heights Medical Heart for analysis.
In line with the NYPD, officers responded simply earlier than 10:30 p.m. to studies of “a number of disorderly teams” within the neighborhood of the hospital.
“Upon arrival, officers noticed quite a few people appearing in a disorderly method, obstructing vehicular visitors, and blocking emergency entrances and exits” on the hospital, in line with an NYPD assertion to ABC Information.
As ICE brokers tried to go away the hospital with Okeke, protestors outdoors of the hospital blocked the doorway and refused to disperse, the NYPD famous.
“One protestor started punching and ultimately broke the ICE agent’s rear window,” the NYPD mentioned.
After “repeated verbal warnings” to disperse, police took 9 individuals into custody, eight of whom had been arrested and charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, reckless endangerment, and prison mischief, in line with the NYPD. A ninth particular person was issued a summons and launched, the NYPD mentioned.
One of many reckless endangerment arrests was for an individual who allegedly threw rubbish at a automobile that was unrelated to the ICE operation, in line with the NYPD.
A number of ICE autos had been broken through the protest and an unspecified variety of ICE officers had been assaulted by the protestors, leading to minor accidents to the officers, in line with DHS.
“The NYPD doesn’t conduct or take part in civil immigration enforcement,” the NYPD mentioned in its assertion to ABC Information, including that it “had no prior consciousness or coordination relating to the ICE operation that passed off” Saturday evening.
Okeke got here to the USA in 2023 on a vacationer visa and allegedly remained within the nation past his Feb. 26, 2024, visa expiration, DHS mentioned.
