Did NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani try to break through guards to stop mass deportations? Fact Check
Claim: A recent video allegedly shows New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani trying to break through state troopers to stop mass deportations.
Conclusion: The claim is misleading. The video is real but it actually shows Mamdani, who was then a New York City mayoral candidate shouting at White House Border Czar Tom Homan in Albany in March 2025. The confrontation took place after the arrest of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Rating: Misleading 
Several social media users have shared a video, claiming that NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani was causing a disruption to stop mass deportations. Verified X user ‘sarrah_bellus’ shared such a claim on 30 July, 2026 with the caption : “NYC mayor, Zohran Mamdani, tried to break through the state troopers to stop the mass deportations while shouting: ‘DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE 1st AMENDMENT?’ This IS what it looks like when a leader is fighting for humanity.” Attached to the post is a 10-second video showing Zohran Mamdani standing in front of a law enforcement officer and shouting.
The post gained 6.3 million views and can be seen below –
NYC mayor, Zohran Mamdani, tried to break through the state troopers to stop the mass deportations while shouting:
‘DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE 1st AMENDMENT?’
This IS what it looks like when a leader is fighting for humanity. 👏 pic.twitter.com/DQWAbJKQ61
— Sarrah Bellus (@sarrah_bellus) July 30, 2026
Other users have shared similar claims that can be seen here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be misleading. The video is authentic but it does not depict a recent event. It shows Zohran Mamdani, who was then campaigning as a New York City mayoral candidate, confronting White House Border Czar Tom Homan in Albany in March 2025. The exchange occurred following the arrest of Columbia University graduate and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Details:
We first conducted a reverse image search on various keyframes of the video to learn about the context. The search took us to a Youtube video uploaded by Forbes on 13 March 2025, titled : “VIRAL MOMENT: NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Confronts Border Czar Tom Homan”. The description states that the confrontation occurred in Albany, New York and the footage matches the visuals in the claim.
Another YouTube video by the New York Post on March 13, 2025 confirms that the incident involved Zohran Mamdani who was a New York City mayoral candidate at the time, confronting White House Border Czar Tom Homan in Albany. The video’s subtitles show Mamdani shouting, “How many more New Yorkers will you detain? How many more New Yorkers without charge? Do you believe in the First Amendment? Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan?”
Following this, we conducted a web search with the phrase “NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani confronts Tom Homan” to learn the reason. According to a report published by The Hill on 12 March, 2025, “Zohran Mamdani confronted President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, in Albany on Wednesday over the recent arrest of Columbia University graduate and green card holder Mahmoud Khalil by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”
The above report further noted that “Mamdani yelled as he tried to approach Homan at the New York state Capitol, where the border czar had come for a meeting with state lawmakers from the GOP to discuss immigration.” The report has also mentioned Zohran Mamdani’s X post on this confrontation, which is embedded below.
Today I confronted “border czar” Tom Homan who came to Albany to do Trump’s bidding — push for mass deportations, carry out the assault on working class New Yorkers, and justify the unjustifiable detention of legal permanent resident and father-to-be, Mahmoud Khalil. pic.twitter.com/hPRQrB6Ci6
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) March 12, 2025
We learnt from an Associated Press report that Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by ICE as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian student activists. The Department of Homeland Security said the arrest was carried out “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” and alleged that Khalil had “led activities aligned to Hamas…”
Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as New York City Mayor on January 1, 2026. However, at the time of the confrontation with Tom Homan in March 2025, he was still a New York City mayoral candidate. Therefore, the incident was not an official mayoral action or an attempt by the New York City Mayor to physically intervene in ongoing deportations. News reports and credible footage confirm that it is an old video recorded in March 2025.
Thus, the claim is misleading.
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