Turkish journalist hospitalized after assault at NYC immigration court

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, 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 to go crashing to the hallway floor, landing atop Elibol.

Elibol is then seen on the floor in pain before emergency medical services arrive, place him in a neck brace and onto a stretcher. The photojournalist, who did not respond to a request for comment, told Reuters, “I was trying to get the video and someone yanked me and threw me to the ground.”

A photographer for the wire service captured the moment Elibol started falling backward, showing multiple federal officers standing in front of Elibol and looking toward the elevator.

Elibol said that he hurt his back and head and was taken to the hospital. He added that after he was examined, he was discharged with pain medicine.

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 National Press Photographers Association condemned the assaults as “a blatant attack on press freedom.”

“ICE must be held accountable for violating its own policy and for trampling on the First Amendment rights of these photographers,” said NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher. “Anything less sends a chilling message to journalists everywhere.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include additional details from L. Vural Elibol and comment from the National Press Photographers Association.