An aide to Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler was arrested by federal agents during an immigration-related confrontation that was caught on video.
The tearful staffer was briefly detained by Homeland Security officers who said that Nadler's office was "harboring rioters."
The aide was released without being charged after a security check was completed, the Department of Homeland Security said.
“Based on earlier incidents in a nearby facility, FPS officers were concerned about the safety of the federal employees in the office and went to the location to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those present,” Homeland Security officials said.
There were tensions building up to the arrest at Nadler's office in a federal building in downtown Manhattan, where an immigration courthouse is located one floor below. President Trump's escalating immigration crackdown has begun targeting courthouses to speed up deportations.
In the video, an agent is seen arresting a crying woman and telling her to "stop resisting" while another woman stands in a doorway and asks to see a warrant.
“I’m a federal officer, we’re here checking on something,” one of the agents says. "We have the right to check. You are harboring rioters in the office."
The Trump administration and Nadler's team have offered conflicting narratives of what transpired.
According to DHS, the Nadler staffer became "verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office” even after federal officers identified themselves and their purpose for being there.
“The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check," the DHS said.
Nadler's office said they invited a pair of immigration advocates to come inside Nadler's sixth floor office to "de-escalate" a situation on the fifth floor. Federal agents had threatened to arrest anti-ICE activists for loitering in a public hallway outside the immigration court, the New York Times reported.
The confrontation is the latest dramatic clash over immigration between Democrats in Congress and federal law enforcement. A House Democrat was arrested and charged in May for an assault outside an ICE facility in New Jersey.
Following last Wednesday's incident inside Nadler's office, police arrested several people for blocking ICE vans outside the building, the Gothamist reported. 18 protesters received criminal summonses and five were arrested and charged.
Nadler, a longtime Trump foe who, accused Trump of using a "fascist" playbook to intimidate critics.
“The Trump administration is really using totalitarian or even authoritarian practices,” Nadler told the New York Times. “We have to fight them. We don’t want to be a fascist country.
Trump and his Republican allies, in turn, have accused Democrats of sympathizing with illegal aliens and turning a blind eye to violent crimes committed by foreigners.
