Video shows NYPD response as ICE agents take Columbia student into custody
By Ali Bauman, Lisa Rozner
Click here for updates on this story
NEW YORK (WCBS) — The New York City Police Department has released bodycam footage of officers arriving to the off-campus Columbia University residential building where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took a student into custody last week.
Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva was detained by ICE in her apartment on Feb. 26 before Mayor Zohran Mamdani called in a favor to President Trump to get her released several hours later. The legal case against her has since been dismissed.
NYPD bodycam footage released Video released Friday afternoon shows two NYPD officers arriving to the apartment last Thursday morning, responding to a 911 call about two suspicious men trying to gain entry to the residence.
When the NYPD officers arrive, they see two plainclothes agents in the hall.
“What are you guys here for?” an officer asks.
“Homeland Security investigation,” an agent responds.
“Oh … you’re the suspicious person,” an officer says.
The officers read back the description from the 911 call.
“Were you holding the door? Was somebody holding the door … downstairs by the main entry?” an officer asks.
“Yeah, to get in,” an agent says.
The agents show the officers their badges and let them in the apartment, where there are two more plainclothes agents. After checking their badges, the police exchange pleasantries with the agents and leave.
Conflicting details from ICE, Columbia Columbia Acting President Claire Shipman has claimed Aghayeva was detained by ICE agents posing as police searching for a missing child.
“Our security cameras captured the agents in the hallway showing pictures of the alleged missing child,” she said in a video message on Feb. 26.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that claim.
“The Homeland Security Investigators verbally identified themselves and visibly wore badges around their necks. They did NOT and would not identify themselves as NYPD,” a spokesperson said in a statement, in part, released Feb. 26.
The NYPD has maintained it had no involvement in the DHS enforcement whatsoever. A spokesman for the police department said it released the video to ensure full transparency and show that officers responded appropriately.
Columbia, meanwhile, says since the incident, it has told residential staff that, unless it is an emergency, they are not to allow any law enforcement into residential buildings without guidance from school administration.
Calls for Columbia to release video The release of the NYPD footage comes four days after several Democratic state and local lawmakers wrote a letter to Columbia’s acting president and the NYPD commissioner calling for the release of the video, writing, in part, “While there are obstacles to the prosecution of federal officers in this context, it is important to understand nonetheless whether they violated the law … Moreover, release of this footage would help New Yorkers … be better prepared to counter actions by ICE in the future.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal is calling on Columbia to release their security footage “so we can fully understand how ICE gained access to this off-campus housing and to the extent civil rights violations occurred.”
While Columbia is still not releasing its footage, it says the NYPD bodycam video was taken well after DHS detained Aghayeva.
The university has said it does not release CCTV footage “without a lawfully issued subpoena.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.