Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sues Alina Habba over trespassing arrest at ICE facility
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka filed a lawsuit against the US Attorney for New Jersey on Tuesday over his arrest last month while protesting outside an ICE detention facility in his city.
Baraka accused interim head attorney Alina Habba, who is also a personal lawyer of President Trump, of 'malicious prosecution' and violating his Fourth Amendment rights following the May 9 arrest.
Alina Habba appeared unfazed by the lawsuit.
John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock
'Defandant Habba issued the defamatory statement and authorized the false arrest of Mayor Baraka despite clear evidence that Mayor Baraka had not committed the petty offense of 'defiant trespass,'' the lawsuit stated.
'In authorizing and/or directing the arrest of Mayor Baraka without proper legal grounds, Defendant Habba was acting for political reasons,' the suit added.
The trespassing charge against Baraka was later dismissed.
Habba, however, appeared unfazed by the lawsuit and mocked the New Jersey Democrat.
'My advice to the mayor — feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey,' she wrote on X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Political notes: Braveboy wastes no time on hires, Shoemaker makes time for family, more lawsuits
Prince George's County At-Large Councilmember Calvin Hawkins, right, congratulates State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy on her apparent victory in Tuesday's special election for county executive. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) Less than 24 hours after Aisha Braveboy declared victory in the special election for Prince George's County executive, the Democrat and current county state's attorney is already making moves. Braveboy announced Wednesday that Maxene Bardwell will serve as chief administrative officer and second-in-command for the county. Bardwell, a Prince George's resident, currently works as an internal audit manager in the Montgomery County Executive's office. 'I consider this offer to be just an example of forward thinking by County Executive-elect Braveboy to make sure that she has best-in-class skill and experience in her administration working for the people of Prince George's County,' Bardwell said in a statement. Braveboy's will not be official until next week, as election officials are still counting and certifying votes. But in election night returns, the latest posted by county officials, she had just over 89% of the vote over Republican challenger Jonathan White. But event before Tuesday's election, after surviving a nine-candidate Democratic primary in March, Braveboy had pulled together a preliminary transition team comprised of some top elected officials and business and community leaders. The team included transition co-chairs include Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) and Bowie State University President Aminta Breaux, Capitol Connections President Michael Arrington and High-Quality Care Nursing CEO Joy Davis. About a dozen people are on an executive committee that includes state Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George's), Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Prince George's and Anne Arundel) and Erek Barron, former U.S. Attorney for Maryland. Braveboy's transition team also notes various committee co-chairs, including At-Large Councilmember Calvin Hawkins (D) to serve on a group dealing with Corrections and Returning Citizens Services, and former county executive County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, co-chair of a committee to assess the county's finances, government structure and operational efficiency. Both Hawkins and Baker ran against Braveboy in the March primary. State Sen. Ron Watson (D-Prince George's) will co-chair a committee focused on education, employment and workforce development. If her victory is confirmed, Braveboy would be sworn in on June 19, the Juneteenth holiday. When Carroll County voters go to elect a state's attorney in 2026, current State's Attorney Haven Shoemaker Jr. will not be an option. Shoemaker, a Republican, announced Monday that he will not seek reelection after serving one term as the county's top prosecutor. In a statement released by his office, Shoemaker said that serving as state's attorney 'has been the honor of a lifetime,' but added that 'at this point in my life, it's time to let someone else have a try.' 'By the time I leave office, I will have been an attorney for 34 years and will have held political office for 30,' his statement said. 'It is time for me to spend some quality time with my wife, Patty, at long last. She has made tremendous sacrifices as I pursued careers in both the law and politics, and without her support, I would not have accomplished anything.' Shoemaker was born in Baltimore but moved with his family to North East where he attended high school before earning a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in 1987. After two years in the Army National Guard, he attended Widener University School of Law, graduating with honors in 1992, and opened his own law practice in Hampstead in 1994. His political career began with election to the Hampstead Town Council 1997, followed by election as major in 2003, a job he held until 2010, when he was elected to the Carroll County Commission. Shoemaker was elected to the House of Delegates in 2014 and served from 2015 to 2023, serving as minority whip in 2022. He was elected to his current position in 2022. 'I still have a year and a half left of my term. I will continue to work diligently for you during this time as I have over the last 30 plus years,' his statement said. 'The people of Carroll County deserve nothing less.' Has Maryland moved from friend of the court to best friend of the court? Attorney General Anthony Brown said Wednesday that Maryland has signed on to friend of the court briefs in two separate federal lawsuits in as many days. Maryland was one of 19 states and the District of Columbia that filed an amicus curiae — friend of the court — brief on Tuesday urging the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold Michigan's ban on 'conversion therapy,' the medically discredited therapy that claims to convert the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQ individuals. A federal district court upheld Michigan's law restricting the therapy, but that ruling was appealed by the therapist and the Catholic Charities group in southeastern Michigan that sued to overturn the law. Maryland banned the use of conversion therapy on minors in 2018, one of 25 states with laws on the books — Arizona and Pennsylvania have prohibitions issued through executive orders — restricting such therapy. The Michigan brief said all the states 'have strong interests in regulating the practice of health care, including care relating to mental health, within their boundaries to protect public health and safety. Amici States additionally share compelling interests in protecting the health, safety, and well-being of children and youth, and in affirming the dignity and equal worth and treatment of LGBTQI+ minors.' Maryland, other states, take more legal actions against Trump administration And Maryland was one 18 states and the District that filed an amicus brief Wednesday urging the full 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a ruling by a three-judge panel of the court in a Voting Rights Act case brought by a tribe in North Dakota. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians sued the state of North Dakota in 2021, claiming that the state's redistricting plan illegally diluted Native American voting strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A federal district judge agreed and ordered the state to redraw its districts, and when it did not, the judge imposed the tribe's recommended redistricting plan. But on appeal, a panel of the circuit court overturned that ruling, finding that Section 2 applies to states and other governments, but does not confer a right on private individuals to bring a legal challenge. The Turtle Mountain brief argues that not only does Section 2 allow private actions in voting rights cases, but participation by private groups is critical to protecting those rights. 'Private parties are instrumental in identifying voting-related issues, and for decades, private actions have been a welcome and necessary supplement to state efforts to ensure legal compliance,' the brief said, supplementing federal prosecutors and state officials who may not have the resources to pursue voting rights cases. 'Private parties are typically best equipped to identify and pursue violations. They have extensive on-the-ground knowledge and develop the necessary connections with stakeholders and community members to build cases.' With Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley term-limited after serving two four-year terms, voters may be starting to think about the next mayor, who will be chosen this fall. Residents have a chance to hear the two announced candidates so far at a mayoral debate next week. The June 10 debate between two Democrats, Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell Charles and former Alderman Jared Littmann, is being hosted by the Caucus of African American Leaders at the Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center. Carl Snowden, convener of the caucus, wrote in email Monday that topics up for discussion include affordable housing, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs and other matters affecting the city. Another topic could be sanctuary cities: Annapolis was one of 10 municipalities in Maryland identified by the Trump administration last month as sanctuary jurisdictions, along with eight counties and the state itself. The administration has threatened federal funding for the more than 500 jurisdictions it identified nationwide. Snowden said his group will have a monthly meeting one hour before the debate scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CONTACT US 'We contend that an informed electorate is the key to an effective democracy,' Snowden said. 'We commend all candidates who are running for public office. They are willing to be scrutinized, chastised, and criticized in their pursuit of serving the public.' Littman, who served on the city council for five years until his term ended in 2017, declared his candidacy in January 2024. He has also worked as an associate county attorney in Montgomery County and served on the national board of True Value Hardware. Pindell Charles, a retired prosecutor and member of the council since 2009, seeks to make history as the city's first elected Black mayor. Alderman John Thomas Chambers Jr. (R), who was Black, served on an interim basis for two months in 1981, following the suicide of Mayor Gustav Akerland (R). Candidates have until July 28 to file for the Nov. 4 election, according to the city's election calendar. The caucus plans to hold a candidate's forum after the deadline for any contested city council races in the city's eight wards. The primary election is scheduled for Sept. 6 and the general election Nov. 4.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Missouri governor allows more spending, property tax cap as he pursues stadium deal
State Sen. Kurtis Gregory of Marshall is sponsoring the bill to set aside state tax money to finance new and renovated stadiums for Kansas City sports teams (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). Gov. Mike Kehoe expanded the agenda of the special session Wednesday enough to win Missouri Senate passage of bills with money for disaster recovery in St. Louis, changes to property taxes policies and tax incentives to finance new or improved stadiums in Kansas City. Initially scheduled to go in at 10 a.m., the Senate finally convened about seven hours later. Talks over what sweeteners Kehoe needed to get his key objective — tax incentives to finance new or renovated stadiums for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals —- culminated in his revised agenda. 'After productive conversations with members of the Missouri General Assembly this week, we are amending our special session call to allow for additional legislation in the areas of disaster relief, tax policy, and budget investments,' Kehoe said in a news release. 'We appreciate legislators working together to use this as an opportunity to show up for our communities by acting swiftly to help those in crisis, while also making smart decisions that secure opportunity for the future.' Under the constitutional limits on a special session, the governor must 'state specifically each matter on which action is deemed necessary.' Any attempt to address an issue not listed in the call for the session can be ruled out of order. The special session began Monday and can continue for up to 60 days. Kehoe is seeking quick action because both teams have offers from Kansas to relocate. The spending bill passed 23-10 in the early morning on Thursday, winning with a coalition of Democrats and Republicans with only Republicans opposed. The bill to finance the stadiums went to the House on a 19-13 vote, with three Democrats joining 10 Republicans in opposition. For several hours the chamber stalled on the stadium bill, working late into the night. The bill includes all the tax provisions necessary to finance the stadiums, plus disaster relief provisions and an expansion of a tax credit program supporting amateur sporting events. Shortly before 1 a.m., the impasse cleared and bill sponsored by state Sen. Kurtis Gregory was given initial approval. Within a few hours, the final votes were held and the Senate adjourned until June 16. For several hours, debate focused on a proposal from state Sen. Joe Nicola, a Republican from Independence, to freeze the maximum increase in annual property tax bills at 5% in some counties. Then state Sen. Tracy McCreery, a Democrat from Olivette, said she had heard enough. 'This discussion that we've had the last several hours is just an effort for the governor to try to get a couple of votes out of the Freedom Caucus for the stadium funding scheme,' McCreery said. She said Kehoe agreed to Nicola's amendment and added it to the call to wear down opposition. Then she blamed Kehoe and Republicans for using a procedural move to shut down debate during the regular session on an abortion ban and repeal of the sick leave law approved by voters in November. Kehoe could have had the stadium plan passed if the procedural move was not used, McCreery said. 'Here we are tonight, masquerading that we care about people and the amount of money that they're paying for things,' McCreery said. Democrats don't trust Republicans, she said, and the Senate should not trust the House. Until the appropriation bill, which totals $361 million including $175 million in general revenue, passes the House. The House refused to pass a bill with $235 million of the same projects and $282 million of additional spending during the session. House Republican leaders waited for the Senate to adjourn on the last day for passing appropriations before revealing that the bill would be spiked. 'We should not be doing anything until (the spending bill is passed) and over the House, and then the House has to have it on its way to the governor before we should be taking any action on anything else,' McCreery said. The stadium funding plan would allocate state taxes collected from economic activity at Arrowhead and Kauffman to bond payments for renovations at Arrowhead and a new stadium for the Royals in Jackson or Clay counties. The cost is estimated at close to $1.5 billion over 30 years. State Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a Republican from Marshall and sponsor of the stadium bill, said the public support for keeping the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri was both a good economic investment and a good investment in the state's image. 'What's at stake if those teams go across the state line is over $2 billion of economic activity inside of the state of Missouri, over 13,000 jobs, and we just let the state of Kansas poach the pride and joy of the western side of the state,' Gregory said. The teams must give Kansas an answer by June 30 on an offer to pay 70% of the cost of new stadiums. Missouri's offer is to cover about half the cost. Some senators have grumbled that the teams should make a commitment to stay in Missouri if the bill is passed. Gregory said their desire to stay should be apparent. 'I also contend that the teams want to stay in Missouri, because if they wanted to go to Kansas, I believe they would have already signed on the dotted line to move those teams,' Gregory said. The spending bill was increased because of demands from St. Louis Democrats that Kehoe address the uncertainty over when or whether President Donald Trump will declare a federal disaster for the May 16 St. Louis tornado. That brought a new $100 million appropriation for storm victims in the city of St. Louis. Previously, the disaster provisions in the call — $25 million for the Missouri Housing Trust Fund to be distributed by the Missouri Housing Development Commission and a tax credit for amounts paid as insurance deductibles — were all applied equally to counties included in disaster requests. Kehoe has submitted four storm events this spring, with damage in 37 counties, to Trump for disaster requests. Two have been granted. The magnitude of the St. Louis tornado — a 22-mile path of destruction that cost five Missouri lives and damaged an estimated $1.6 billion in property damage — surpasses all other damage so far in the state. Damage to public property in the two disasters that have been declared is estimated at $52 million. The other new money added to the spending bill settled an issue for state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia. A state contribution to the new research reactor at the University of Missouri, which Kehoe cut from $50 million to $25 million to find money for disaster aid, was returned to $50 million. The only opposition to the spending bill on the floor came from state Sen. Mike Moon, a Republican from Ash Grove, who said the university should tap its $1.4 billion endowment to pay for the reactor. And Moon said he didn't like the disaster relief funds. 'The money that is going to be received by those who were hurt is nowhere near the amount that's going to cause them to be compensated and fully restored,' Moon said. If the state starts paying to repair property after storms, he said, people will not buy insurance. 'I don't think some of this is the proper function of government,' Moon said. 'Compassion, certainly. But unless people take personal responsibility and do the things they should be doing so that we don't have to, when is this going to end?' The tax change Nicola is trying to enact would cap increases in real property tax bills at 5% every two years, corresponding to the reassessment cycle. Officials in 34 counties would have the option of putting the cap in place through a ballot measure. The proposal is a response to rapid increases in property values and the resulting increase in tax bills. There was no estimate available of the potential cost to local governments. Nicola said there were enough protections to make sure all current revenue is maintained and new voter-approved levies are paid. 'Our property tax system in this state, in my opinion, is a disaster,' Nicola said. The amendment is the price of his vote, he told the Senate. 'I am a hard no on the stadium tax bill unless we get some solid property tax relief for my people in Jackson County,' Nicola said. 'I told the governor of this on Monday I can count on one hand how many of my constituents want me to vote for the stadium.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bodies of 2 hostages recovered from Gaza in Israeli military operation
June 5 (UPI) -- Israel said Thursday it had recovered the remains of two Israeli-American hostages in a military operation overnight in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a post on X that the bodies of Gadi Haggai, 72, and Judy Weinstein-Haggai, 70, had been returned to their families in Israel 20 months after they were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel and taken back to Gaza. He said the married couple were recovered in a special operation mounted by the Israeli Security Agency and Israel Defense Forces. "I would like to thank, and express appreciation to, the fighters and commanders for this determined and successful operation. We will not rest, nor will we be silent, until we return home all of our hostages -- the living and the deceased," Netanyahu said. The couple, who held U.S. citizenship, were out for a morning walk near their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were gunned down by Mujahideen Brigades fighters who joined the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 in which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds abducted. "We welcome the closure and their return to a proper burial at home, in Israel," a statement from the families of Haggai and Weinstein said. Judy Weinstein-Haggai was born in New York but moved to Toronto, Canada, with her family at the age of 3. She married Gadi Haggai after meeting him while working as a volunteer on a kibbutz in the 1970s, according to a bio posted on social media. Gadi Haggai was described as a retired chef, a passionate jazz musician, and a devoted father and grandfather. Israeli President Isaac Herzog said it was a painful time but also a moment of solace. "We will continue to do everything in our power to bring our sisters and brothers back from hell -- the living, for healing and rehabilitation, and the fallen, to be laid to rest in dignity. Every last one of them!" Herzog said on X. The couple's recovery means 54 out of the 251 people originally taken hostage remain in Gaza, of whom about 20 are believed to be still alive. As of Wednesday, Gaza's health ministry, which is run by Hamas, put the number of Palestinians killed since Israel launched its military response a day after the Oct. 7 attacks at 54,607 and 125,341 injured. The "Bring Them Home Now" Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it wanted to stress that a grave was a basic human right and called for authorities to do whatever was necessary to reach an agreement that will see the return of the rest of the hostages, "the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for burial." "There is no need to wait another 608 agonizing days for this. The mission can be completed as early as tomorrow morning. This is what the majority of the Israeli people want." Thursday's rescue came hours after the United States vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution for an "immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in Gaza. The Slovenia-sponsored resolution, which also called for the unconditional release of all the hostages held by Hamas and other groups and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on aid going into Gaza, was defeated in a 14-1 vote on Wednesday evening in New York, the U.N. said in a news release. Slovenia's representative to the U.N. expressed disappointment at the vetoing of a measure motivated by humanitarian intentions, saying "starving civilians and inflicting immense suffering" was inhumane, in breach of international law and unwarranted by any war objective. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea said Washington could not support rewarding Hamas with a permanent cease-fire that would leave it with the ability to carry out further attacks and criticized the "false equivalence" drawn between Hamas and Israel in the text of the draft resolution. She also argued that the draft did not make any mention of the failings of the system used operated by the U.N. and aid charities to distribute humanitarian assistance in Gaza, which she said had been exploited by Hamas for its own benefit. "Performative actions designed to draw a veto" would only serve to undermine efforts to resolve matters through quiet diplomacy currently underway between the parties, said Shea.
