The NYPD released bodycam footage leading up to the moment when ICE agents detained a Columbia University student inside university housing in February — an incident that sparked protest and controversy, especially over the way the school alleged the federal agents got inside. The video release d Friday showed two police officers responding to a 911 call of a “suspicious” person just after 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 26. The caller reported two men wearing dark clothing lingering inside a residential building owned by the university. When the NYPD cops got there, as the video showed, they asked for ID from the first agent at the apartment door, who provided it. They then did the same for a second agent inside. The officers then left. Columbia has said the agents misrepresented themselves to get inside the apartment, but the NYPD video does not show that, as the police arrived after the ICE agents were already in the building and in the student’s apartment. According to a prior university statement, the agents had gained access to the building by posing as police in search of a 5-year-old — going so far as to present a flyer of the “missing child” to a campus safety officer. The poster is not seen in the video, though the timing of the officers’ arrival could explain why it was not featured. The operation had seemingly threatened to open a rift between the city’s police department and ICE, whose agents have increasingly donned the disguises of utility workers, delivery drivers and other uniformed professionals to carry out Trump’s sweeping deportation campaign. While such tactics are not illegal, former police officers said any apparent misrepresentation would represent a startling escalation, one that could gravely undermine public trust during the next emergency. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, has disputed portions of the university’s narrative, claiming the federal agents “verbally identified themselves and visibly wore badges around their necks” and were allowed into the building by a property manager. McLaughlin has not addressed whether the agents had used the guise of a missing child to enter the apartment. University senior Ellie Aghayeva, an international student from Azerbaijan studying neuroscience and politics, was detained by the Homeland Security agents, but she was not seen in the bodycam video from the NYPD. Claire Shipman, the university’s acting president, said on the day of the incident that security cameras had “captured the agents in the hallway showing pictures of the alleged missing child,” adding that the situation was “utterly unacceptable.” Columbia has so far declined to release that footage, and did not share a new statement regarding the NYPD video released. Aghayeva was later released following surprising intervention by President Donald Trump. The Republican informed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani that Aghayeva was being released shortly after meeting with the Democratic mayor that same day. DHS said Aghayeva’s student visa was terminated in 2016. The status of her deportation case is not clear. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less