Gov. Kathy Hochul is condemning the conduct of a federal immigration agent who is seen pepper-spraying a woman in the face during a street encounter in New York City that was recorded and shared on social media.
“No one is above the law,” Hochul said in a social media post about the incident, which involved federal officers and people observing their work. "Pepper-spraying a 72-year-old woman for exercising her constitutional rights is outrageous."
Hochul said encounters like the one filmed near the Convent of the Good Shepherd, at Isham Street and Seaman Avenue in Manhattan's Inwood neighborhood, was the very reason she recently signed into law a bill that would allow New Yorkers to sue federal officials who “abuse their authority” and violate their constitutional rights.
In a statement on Tuesday, an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson defended the action of the agent seen deploying pepper spray in the July 30 encounter. The statement alleged that officers were surrounded by an “unruly, combative, and verbally assaultive crowd” that surrounded officers and refused to move out of the way, and that officers then resorted to “appropriate” measures.
Linda Wolff, 72, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, told Gothamist that she was the woman being pepper-sprayed in the video. Wolff said she never touched the officers or acted physically aggressively toward them.
The video shows Wolff holding her phone out as the agent, who is wearing a bulletproof vest labelled “POLICE,” approaches and sprays her with the irritant before turning and walking away. Other bystanders are also shown standing nearby and recording.
Wolff said she came to the scene after receiving an alert from mutual aid organizers and immigration advocates that ICE agents had been sighted in the neighborhood.
“I know how to be a simple demonstrator,” said Wolff, who added that she was considering legal action. “I know not to touch them… I would never get in the way.”
The encounter comes as the federal agency was recently deluged with legal claims, nearly 60 in all, filed by American Civil Liberties Union affiliates across 17 states and Washington, D.C., on behalf of citizens and noncitizens alike alleging they suffered damages as the result of wrongful or negligent acts by ICE officers.
Incidents cited in the administrative claims allege injuries involving protesters struck by rubber bullets and sprayed with chemical irritants; people roughed up and detained – only to be released later when their U.S. citizenship was confirmed; and sundry claimed of mistreatment while in ICE detention.
Wolff added she would not be deterred by the counter, adding, “I’m not stopping. I’ll do everything I possibly can legally and to bring awareness.”
John Burris, a California-based civil rights attorney representing Wolff, said the agents acted as if they wouldn’t be held accountable for their actions.
“There was no constitutional reason that required them to use pepper spray,” Burris said. “It was purely punitive. That’s the part that was shocking.”
This story was updated with additional information.
