'Sickening thud': Reporter says ICE fled after photographer's head slammed to the ground

A colleague of photographer L. Vural Elibol called out immigration agents who slammed Elibol to the floor, seriously injuring him enough that emergency responders were called.

On Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents grabbed or shoved several media members at a New York courthouse, and it was all captured on video by Getty photographer Stephanie Keith.

The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, stated in a news release that "officers were swarmed by agitators and members of the press, which obstructed operations ... Officers repeatedly told the crowd of agitators and journalists to get back, move, and get out of the elevator."

However, amNewYork photojournalist Dean Moses called that outright false while speaking to MSNBC on Wednesday.

"So, just to be clear, the most important aspect I want people to know is that it was not clear that ICE was detaining anyone at that point," said Moses. "Usually, what happens is we, as journalists, wait outside the courtrooms where ICE are masked. ICE agents also wait. So, we were waiting in the hallway. And usually what happens is when someone leaves the courtroom, they usually accost them."

The agents then look through their paperwork and ID and demand information. They take someone into the stairwell and can be rough with them or not. In this case, the woman left the courtroom, walked to the elevator, pressed the button, and walked inside when she was met with physical force. Meanwhile, photographers and reporters followed her, trying to get an interview about her story.

"So, I stepped into the elevator and then all of a sudden they became enraged, pushing us, screaming obscenities to get out the elevator. And that's when the chaos ensued," said Moses.

An ICE agent can be heard telling Moses, "Get out of the elevator. Get out of the f---ing elevator!"

He noted that there was no announcement, the ICE agents never said a word, much less asked them to move so they could detain someone.

The claim that they were swarmed was also untrue, he continued.

"I have to say, in this instance, it's an absolute falsehood. None of that is accurate," Moses continued. "I'd be lying if I said this hasn't happened in the past. There have been protesters. There's been activists who have attended court hearings who have, you know, I would say fairly impeded detentions. But in this case, there were no activists, there were no agitators. It was just members of the press."

The only person in the elevator was the woman who had walked out of the courtroom.

"Then directly after I went [into the] elevator, when I was grabbed and shoved, another ICE agent shoved my colleagues, which was the gentleman who was pushed to the ground," Moses recalled. "So, there was nobody other than the press involved."

Photojournalist Olga Fedorova was also shoved to the ground and appeared to land partially on Elibol, but continued to take photos and was able to stand up. Elibol wasn't as lucky.

"So, actually, you know, you could hear the slam," he said of his colleague's head hitting the floor. "It was a really sickening thud of when his head and his back hit the back of the very hard floors in the hallway there. And the ICE agents just rushed away. Thankfully, my other colleagues and some of the actual security guards who work there independent of ICE did step in and tried to call for medical attention. He was left there for some time, I would say 30 to 40 minutes, really not moving at all until EMS was able to come and take him away."

Elibol was put in a neck brace and taken away on a stretcher by paramedics in the New York Fire Department.

Last week, one ICE agent was relieved of his duties after a video showing him harassing a woman and ultimately shoving her to the ground.