Newsman: Eight people were arrested over the weekend as hundreds of people confronted police at a New York City hospital in protest of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in the city.
Police officials said, Enforcement actions carried out by masked U.S. immigration agents triggered an hours-long stand-off and angry protest at a New York City hospital late Saturday, resulting in eight arrests.
Hospital patients reported they had seen a handcuffed person surrounded by ICE agents inside the facility, prompting a crowd estimated at around 200 or more people to gather outside the hospital.
Crowds gathered outside of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., around 10 p.m. EDT after images spread online of a man arrested earlier that evening by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and brought to the hospital for treatment of injuries, witnesses told reporters.
Around 2 a.m., ICE agents were seen dragging a man in handcuffs along the street near the entrance to Wyckoff Hospital while carrying a large canister of what appeared to be pepper spray, amNY reported.
The Department of Homeland Security on Sunday issued a statement to media outlets identifying the arrested man as Chidozie Wilson Okeke, a Nigerian immigrant who had allegedly overstayed his visa and had previous arrests for assault and criminal drug possession.
The DHS said Okeke has requested medical treatment after agents had used force during his arrest.
NYPD officials said eight people were arrested during the melee, adding that they did not assist ICE in the arrest, in keeping with New York’s sanctuary city policies, and responded after receiving multiple emergency calls of people blocking entrances to the hospital.
Videos showed scenes of chaos as agitated protesters milled about, throwing garbage containers and fighting with New York Police Department officers as pepper spray is dispersed.
