Gov. Kathy Hochul is condemning the conduct of a federal immigration agent who is seen pepper-spraying a woman in the face during a street encounter in New York City that was recorded and shared on social media.

“No one is above the law,” Hochul said in a social media post about the incident, which involved federal officers and people observing their work. “Pepper-spraying a 72-year-old woman for exercising her constitutional rights is outrageous.”

Hochul said encounters like the one filmed near the Convent of the Good Shepherd, at Isham Street and Seaman Avenue in Manhattan’s Inwood neighborhood, was the very reason she recently signed into law a bill that would allow New Yorkers to sue federal officials who “abuse their authority” and violate their constitutional rights.

In a statement on Tuesday, an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson defended the action of the agent seen deploying pepper spray in the July 30 encounter. The statement alleged that officers were surrounded by an “unruly, combative, and verbally assaultive crowd” that surrounded officers and refused to move out of the way, and that officers then resorted to “appropriate” measures.

Linda Wolff, 72, who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, told Gothamist that she was the woman being pepper-sprayed in the video. Wolff said she never touched the officers or acted physically aggressively toward them.

The video shows Wolff holding her phone out as the agent, who is wearing a bulletproof vest labelled “POLICE,” approaches and sprays her with the irritant before turning and walking away. Other bystanders are also shown standing nearby and recording.

…

Wolff added she would not be deterred by the counter, adding, “I’m not stopping. I’ll do everything I possibly can legally and to bring awareness.”

John Burris, a California-based civil rights attorney representing Wolff, said the agents acted as if they wouldn’t be held accountable for their actions.