72-year-old woman says she was hit with pepper spray while recording ICE agents in Manhattan

A 72-year-old woman says her civil rights were violated when an ICE agent in Manhattan sprayed her with pepper spray.

Three weeks ago, Linda Wolff, an immigrant rights supporter who can often be found outside of Delaney Hall, said she was in Inwood when she got word ICE agents were making arrests in the area. She said she took out her phone and started recording.

“I went back on the curb and was just filming ICE, and they walked over and they maced me,” Wolff said Friday. “My civil rights were completely violated at that moment.”

Earlier this week, she stood alongside Gov. Kathy Hochul at a press conference, highlighting a new law in New York that bans local police departments from participating in immigration enforcement. Another state law allows people to sue individual federal ICE officers in state court for violating their constitutional rights.

“I’m grateful for Gov. Hochul for making that law. And I’m the first one to, you know, have a lawsuit,” Wolff said.

Civil rights attorney John Burris is representing Wolff and filed a federal tort claim against ICE.

“It’s unconscionable to hide behind a mask and badge. And people do not understand and know who you are. So the great task here is to uncover that person, to unmask that person,” Burris told News 4.

A spokesperson for ICE said, “Our officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary.”

The law firm representing Wolff is also handling similar suits alleging excessive force by ICE agents in Minneapolis.