Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was released Friday night after being arrested during a protest at a federal immigration detention centre in Newark. Baraka had been taken into custody by federal agents outside Delaney Hall, where he had joined demonstrators opposing the newly opened facility. He was released around 8 pm (local time) after several hours in custody.“The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong,” Baraka told supporters as he stepped out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights. Though he said he could not discuss the case on the advice of his lawyers and the judge, he offered strong words of unity and support for the immigrant community and said, “At some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.”Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed term-limited New Jersey governor Phil Murphy, has been a vocal critic of the detention centre, operated by private prison company Geo Group. As per news agency Associated Press, Baraka has argued that the 1,000-bed facility should not have been allowed to open, citing a lack of proper permits.According to video footage reviewed by AP, Baraka had returned to the public side of the facility’s gates when federal agents surrounded and detained him. “I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me,” Baraka said moments before being dragged back through the gate in handcuffs.His arrest followed a confrontation involving Baraka and three Democratic members of Congress, Reps. Robert Menendez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and LaMonica McIver, who visited Delaney Hall earlier in the day as part of what they described as an oversight visit.Watson Coleman said in a post on social media that “we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” countering a Homeland Security statement that accused lawmakers and protesters of illegally entering the facility. “We were exercising our oversight authority,” she said. According to the New York Times, Baraka was not allowed to accompany the lawmakers inside and was later arrested despite standing outside the facility.Baraka’s wife, Linda, accused federal agents of singling him out, “They wanted to make an example out of the mayor,” she said, noting she was not allowed to see him during his detention.New Jersey attorney general Matthew Platkin, whose office is defending a state law banning private immigration detention centres, called the arrest “deeply concerning,” noting no state or local police were involved. Governor Murphy also criticised the incident, calling Baraka’s arrest “unjust” and describing him as “an exemplary public servant who has always stood up for our most vulnerable neighbours.”Following his release, Baraka said, “What’s happening now in this country, everybody should be scared of. They’re using the courts. They’re using everything else to justify what they’re doing.”
