The acting New Jersey US attorney on Monday said that she is charging Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault for allegedly confronting law enforcement officers outside a Newark immigration detention facility.Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba announced the criminal charges on social media, stating, “Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”Video evidence shows McIver’s confrontation with ICE agents outside the facility.The incident occurred at the Delaney Hall Detention Centre on May 9, where several Democratic lawmakers were present. During the event, Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for allegedly trespassing at the facility, which maintains contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.Habba explained that she attempted to resolve the situation without pressing charges. “I have persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges and have given Representative McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she unfortunately declined,” she stated.“No one is above the law – politicians or otherwise,” the US attorney added. “It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are.”“Now we will let the justice system work.”The homeland security department released a video spanning nearly two minutes, showing McIver on the facility’s side of a chain link fence before the mayor’s arrest. The footage captures her passing through the gate and joining others in shouting “surround the mayor”. In the crowded scene, her elbows make contact with an officer wearing a face covering and olive green uniform marked “Police”.
McIver calls her arrest ‘purely political,’ says ICE agents created ‘unnecessary and unsafe confrontation’
Reacting to the charges, McIver, who claimed that she went with her colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall, said that it was the ICE who created an “unnecessary and unsafe confrontation” when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka. “Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka,” she said. “The charges against me are purely political—they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight. This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court,” she added. Meanwhile, Paul Fishman, McIver’s counsel and former US attorney for New Jersey, denounced the charges against her as “spectacularly inappropriate”. He emphasised that she visited Delaney Hall to fulfil her congressional duties of monitoring ICE’s detainee treatment.Fishman stated that ICE agents transformed a potentially peaceful situation into disorder. He asserted that this prosecution attempts to deflect ICE’s conduct onto Congresswoman McIver, emphasising that factual evidence, not media coverage, would be decisive in court.
