Incident details
- Date of incident
- September 30, 2025
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Bystanders assist journalist L. Vural Elibol, chief videographer for Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, as he lies on the floor after being shoved by federal officers while covering detentions in New York City’s immigration court on Sept. 30, 2025.
L. Vural Elibol, chief videographer for Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, was knocked to the ground by federal officers while reporting at the immigration court in New York, New York, on Sept. 30, 2025. He struck his head and was later hospitalized.
Multiple journalists have reported access issues, intimidation and threats when covering the court at Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been arresting asylum-seekers following their hearings there since May, part of President Donald Trump’s broader immigration crackdown.
Previously, on Sept. 18, independent journalist Michael Nigro was assaulted by a man he identified as a plainclothes ICE officer while reporting on a lawmaker-led protest at the court.
Footage of the Sept. 30 incident, capturFootage of the Sept. 30 incident, captured by a fellow journalist, shows masked federal officers pulling amNewYork’s Dean Moses out of a public elevator while shouting at him, “Get out of the fucking elevator!”
Another officer standing outside the elevator doors can be seen shoving freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova back, causing her and Elibol — who was standing behind her — to go crashing to the hallway floor.
Elibol is then seen on the floor in pain before emergency medical services arrive, place him in a neck brace and place him onto a stretcher.
Another journalist at the scene confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Elibol struck his head quite severely and was taken to a hospital for further monitoring and testing.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for comment.
City Comptroller Brad Lander quickly condemned the assault, writing on the social platform X, “Another violent attack by an ICE officer on a civilian at 26 Federal Plaza—this time on a journalist, who had to be carried out on stretcher.
“Another attack on the First Amendment, our neighbors, and our democracy.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
