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Mamdani Is Treading a Little Too Cautiously With the NYPD

5 0
05.05.2026

A year ago, Zohran Mamdani may have been on the pavement outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick.

The Brooklyn neighborhood, which ICE has been swarming, was the site of a raucous street protest on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, with federal immigration agents dragging a man out of the hospital as the crowd clashed with police officers. The NYPD said cops were there responding to 911 calls and ensuring hospital entrances and exits remained clear for emergency vehicles. But Sandy Nurse, the local city council member who was on the scene, alleged something different. “What I witnessed during the discharge appeared to be direct coordination between ICE and the NYPD, with officers cordoning off the ambulance bay to allow ICE to move the individual into their vehicles and leave,” Nurse said in a statement.

The Department of Homeland Security identified the man as Chidozie Wilson Okeke, an immigrant from Nigeria who had overstayed a visa. ICE had used force during his arrest, and he had requested medical attention. As many as 200 protesters gathered outside the hospital while the detainee was inside; some threw garbage cans into the street. The NYPD said eight people were arrested, charged with reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration and criminal mischief.

The........

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