Man arrested by ICE inside New Haven courthouse; judge calls policy breach unintentional
Jan 20, 2026·Location: New Haven, CT

A man was arrested by a masked, armed federal ICE agent inside the Connecticut Superior Court building at 121 Elm Street in New Haven on the morning of January 20, 2026, just before 8:55 a.m., after he fled into the courthouse following a nearby car crash. The Judicial Branch was not notified of the arrest in advance, as required by Connecticut state law, and the arrest also violated court rules established in September 2025 requiring a signed judicial warrant or documentation of non-protected status before detaining someone on courthouse grounds. Connecticut Chief Justice Raheem L. Mullins said in a statement Thursday that the incident violated the court's policy but did not appear to be an intentional violation, describing it as a rapidly evolving situation involving multiple individuals breaching court security due to activity outside the building.
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