BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Federal agents executed search warrants at three City of Buffalo locations Thursday — all with ties to a well-known political operative. The raids caught neighbors and other tenants off-guard.
"They just said it was a surprise to them, they didn't think anything like this would happen, that they just came into the building," Katrinna Martin-Bordeaux said.
Martin-Bordeaux's organization, Young Black Democrats of Western New York, shares a building at 1325 Main Street with the Urban Chamber of Commerce, of which Garner is the chairman. She said when she arrived, she saw investigators wrapping up.
"This is a pretty busy area so it didn't look too much out of the norm," she said. "One could've passed by and just thought that there were a bunch of people out."
Martin-Bordeaux said she saw some items removed from the building and other witnesses told her computers were taken. The FBI confirmed it also executed warrants at two other locations, which records show are Garner's home and the office for the Grassroots political club he helped found.
"I'm not surprised that he's been targeted because I fully expected when Steve Pigeon and Chris Grant got raided, I fully expected that Grassroots would be part of that," Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant said.
Grant said she's hopeful the raids are in connection to an elections complaint she made in 2013 about Pigeon's WNY Progressive Caucus. She said one of the candidates the political committee supported in a primary race against her had connections to Grassroots.
The attorney general has said in the past that election complaints against the WNYPC led to raids of Pigeon's home and two other political operatives and ultimately led to Pigeon being charged with felonies.
Grant said the raids could be about other things, including Garner's work for contractor LPCiminelli, currently the subject of a bid-rigging case. One thing she steered clear of though was the close ties of Mayor Byron Brown, who she's challenging this fall, to Garner and Grassroots.
"Mayor Brown was not indicted," she said. "He's not incriminated. He has not been named so my focus is on the race and getting petitions and make sure I make the ballot."
The other Democratic challenger, current city comptroller Mark Schroeder, also said he's staying in his lane.
"I believe that the mayor and the people of Buffalo have an opportunity to weigh in to what happened today and the aftermath, thereafter, if there is one," Schroeder said.
Mayor Brown released the following statement reagrding the raids:
"My focus continues to be serving all of the residents of Buffalo, as we continue to move our City forward and make progress. Earlier today, I learned about events that were occurring through news reports. I have no additional information, and I have followed a policy of not commenting on investigations. I refer those questions to the agencies conducting those investigations. My focus on serving our City remains my priority."