Of the 66 people arrested for occupying a Hilton in TriBeCa on Tuesday to protest the federal immigration crackdown, one held an unusual pedigree.
There, wearing a “HILTON HOUSES ICE” sweatshirt, holding a “Hilton Don’t Let ICE Stay” banner, was Dante de Blasio, the son of former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The younger de Blasio, 28, said Wednesday that he opposed the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “in New York City, a place where ICE has no right to be.”
The protesters chose that Hilton Garden Inn, on Sixth Avenue near Canal Street, because they believed ICE agents were being housed there. It could not be immediately determined if they were. A similar protest was held in Minneapolis on Sunday, a day after a protester, Alex Pretti, was shot to death by federal immigration agents.
“We’ve seen these authoritarian, violent tactics all across the country, in addition to an inhumane deportation campaign,” Dante de Blasio said. “ICE ought to be abolished.”
He said the police were polite and respectful and found his presence, once they figured out his identity, “interesting, maybe a little amusing.”
Indeed, along with the other protesters, Mr. de Blasio was zip-tied (“unpleasant,” he said), taken to police headquarters and given a summons for disorderly conduct.
Mr. de Blasio, a Yale graduate and filmmaker who lives in Brooklyn, is the son of the former mayor and his ex-wife, Chirlane McCray. A TV ad Mr. de Blasio made at the age of 15 gave a crucial boost to his father’s first mayoral campaign.
He said on Wednesday it was his first civil disobedience arrest.
“It’s a scary time, man,” he said, “a scary time for the country. I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Andy Newman writes about New Yorkers facing difficult situations, including homelessness, poverty and mental illness. He has been a journalist for more than three decades.
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