ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old NYC protester filming enforcement operation in Inwood

On July 30, 2026, a masked ICE agent pepper-sprayed 72-year-old Linda Wolff at close range near Seaman Avenue and Isham Street in Inwood, Manhattan, after she and other bystanders confronted agents who were arranging to have a vehicle towed. Video Wolff filmed on her own phone shows her standing on the sidewalk when the agent approached, told her to back up, and sprayed her directly in the face. After Wolff said, "Well, you just Maced me," the agent responded, "I'm gonna do it again."

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson defended the action, telling CBS News New York that "a group of individuals swarmed, became combative and verbally assaultive, and refused to move out of the way, in an effort to obstruct law enforcement, a federal crime," and that "law enforcement provided ample notice ... and used appropriate measures." Public interest attorney Kaivan Shroff, who reviewed the video for CBS, said Wolff had a constitutional right to film federal officers from a public sidewalk and "wasn't doing" anything that amounted to obstruction. City Council Member Carmen De La Rosa separately condemned the broader ICE presence in the neighborhood that day.

Days later, Wolff said she was still experiencing eye irritation and light sensitivity from the spray. She said she plans to sue over the incident but has no plans to stop filming ICE operations, calling it an exercise of her First Amendment right.