On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, masked agents ostensibly working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shoved and injured journalists assigned to work at 26 Federal Plaza. Let us be clear: the New York Press Photographers Association condemns this heinous attack by ICE agents on members of the press. The role that the media performs is a critical one in society, and this attempt to intimidate and silence journalists is deeply troubling. It is the media’s job to report newsworthy events with integrity, professionalism, and without bias; the members of the press who were targeted by ICE agents were only there to do their jobs.
Further, these actions on the part of ICE are blatant violations of the freedom of the press guaranteed in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. A free press is a necessary function of democracy; without it, we would be in the dark.
Bruce Cotler
President
president@nyppa.org