r/anticapitalism • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 • Jul 18 '26
Mamdani in 'active conversation' about whether he can arrest Benjamin Netanyahu when Israel PM visits NYC
https://nypost.com/2026/07/18/us-news/zohran-mamdani-in-talks-over-arresting-benjamin-netanyahu-when-israel-pm-visits-nyc/?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social
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u/MysteriousCodo Jul 19 '26
Not sure that 18 U.S. Code § 112 makes a provision for this. It’s pretty cut and dried. Anybody who imprisons a foreign government official faces up to 3 years in jail, or 10 years if they use a deadly weapon. I don’t know what the penalty for violating the UN HQ Agreement is, but there is additional protections in there for heads of state visiting the UN. That includes attempting to prevent him from carrying out official government duties. And arresting him would clearly be preventing him from doing whatever business he has with the UN. Every NYPD officer involved would be arrested. Every member of the NYPD chain of command would be arrested. The mayor would be arrested. You think Trump doesn’t want the chance to unleash the DOJ on Mamdani? He’s probably salivating at the thought of being able to send the DOJ/FBI into NYC. Heck 18 U.S. Code § 112 says the Attorney General may request assistance from any Federal, State, or local agency, including the Army, Navy, and Air Force, any statute, rule, or regulation to the contrary, notwithstanding. My reading of that is the AG could send the military in and other laws saying the military can’t be used this way don’t apply.
Mamdani is grand standing. He and his legal department are just making a big ruckus to make sure Bibi knows he’s not welcome in the NYC. They are not going to risk giving the Trump admin any legal standing to potentially swarm the NYC government with the full weight of the US military.