Dozens of protesters were detained on Tuesday evening after staging a sit-in inside the lobby of a TriBeCa hotel they say is housing federal immigration agents tied to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
More than 100 demonstrators gathered inside the Hilton Garden Inn on Sixth Avenue near Canal Street, chanting anti-ICE slogans and wearing black T-shirts denouncing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Protesters also targeted Hilton, accusing the company of providing lodging to ICE personnel.
Hotel staff and guests appeared confused by the demonstration, and it was not immediately confirmed whether ICE agents were staying at the property.
Number of detainees and charges are unknow
New York City police entered the lobby and warned that anyone who refused to leave would be arrested.
Many protesters exited, along with reporters, but roughly 50 demonstrators remained inside.
Officers from the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group later moved in and arrested the remaining protesters. Police said there were “multiple” arrests but did not immediately release the number of the detained or the specific charges.
The Manhattan action followed a similar protest in Minneapolis after two people — Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a mother of three, and Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse — were fatally shot in separate incidents involving ICE agents earlier this month.
The Department of Homeland Security has said both individuals posed a threat to agents, a claim disputed by civil rights groups, journalists and local officials who point to video footage from the scenes.
The deaths have sparked protests across Minnesota and in other cities, with demonstrators calling for accountability, transparency and independent investigations into federal immigration enforcement operations.
