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an hour ago
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White House hits back at Dem mayor suing US attorney after ICE arrest: ‘Desperate attempt'
The White House is pushing back against Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka, who has hit interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba with a lawsuit this week after he was arrested and briefly charged with criminal trespassing last month outside an ICE facility. Baraka, who is one of the leading Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Habba, accusing her of "false arrest and malicious prosecution" in connection with his May 9 arrest and charges outside a federal immigration center. He was one of several public officials, including Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman, from the New Jersey congressional delegation, all of whom had massed outside the facility in protest. The U.S. attorney's office said 13 days after it brought charges against Baraka that it was dismissing the case against him "for the sake of moving forward." The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey, accuses Habba of acting politically in Baraka's May 9 arrest outside the Delaney Hall detention center, near Newark Liberty International Airport. Baraka was arrested during a protest outside the facility after being accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings from law enforcement officials to leave. He was held in custody for several hours before being released. Bumpy Weather Over Newark: House Democrats Could Face Consequences For Delaney Hall Incident The civil lawsuit filed by Baraka's attorneys seeks damages for what they described as his "false arrest and malicious prosecution," as well as the allegedly defamatory remarks Habba made about his case, including on social media. Read On The Fox News App In the lawsuit, Baraka's lawyers accused Habba of acting as "a political operative, outside of any function intimately related to the judicial process, and in her individual personal capacity." Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, responded to Baraka's move by calling it a "meritless lawsuit" and a "desperate attempt" to stay relevant. Boulder Terror Attack Result Of 'Reckless Biden Policies,' White House Says "Much like Mr. Bakara's last stunt – storming a federal detention facility in defense of criminal illegal aliens – this meritless lawsuit is just his latest desperate attempt to try and stay relevant among the far-left Democrat base," said Jackson. Habba, meanwhile, dismissed Baraka's lawsuit and mocked it as "shocking." "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," Habba said in an X post on Monday night. Homeland Security Removes 'Sanctuary Jurisdictions' List From Its Website Click Here For More Immigration Coverage Baraka's team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: White House hits back at Dem mayor suing US attorney after ICE arrest: 'Desperate attempt'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
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Newark mayor sues feds over arrest outside ICE facility
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks outside Peter Rodino Federal Courthouse while announcing a defamation suit against federal officials involved in his May arrest. (Sophie Nieto-Muñoz | New Jersey Monitor) Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is suing federal officials over his May 9 arrest outside an immigration detention center, alleging malicious prosecution and false arrest. He also accused Alina Habba, the acting U.S. Attorney of New Jersey, of defamation over a post on her personal social media account, in which she wrongly stated that Baraka trespassed and ignored multiple warnings from authorities to leave the Newark detention center property. 'To arrest me, to handcuff me, to drag me away, to take my fingerprints and a picture and mugshots for a class-C misdemeanor is egregious. For me to appear in a hearing and after the hearing, for the U.S. Marshals to rush in and basically to take my picture again is egregious and malicious in my mind,' he said Tuesday outside the federal courthouse in Newark. Baraka, one of six candidates vying to be the Democratic nominee in the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, filed the federal lawsuit on the first day of early voting in the state. He said the timing is so that people are held responsible for it 'immediately.' Besides Habba, the 17-page complaint also named Ricky Patel, a supervising agent at Homeland Security Investigations, the agency that arrested Baraka. The mayor also filed a notice of his intent to sue the federal government, said Nancy Erika Smith, his attorney. 'Political prosecutions are for fascist countries, not the United States of America. Mayor Baraka was a target because he has stood up for the constitutional and human rights of all people, including immigrants,' Smith said. Baraka was arrested one week after Delaney Hall, now the largest detention center on the East Coast, opened its doors when he visited to check if its owner, Geo Group, had done the required inspections and secured a certificate of occupancy. The lawsuit details his arrest by the minute. He arrived at 1:42 p.m. and was invited eight minutes later by a Geo Group staffer inside the facility's gates, where he waited until 2:33 p.m., the complaint states. Patel ordered Baraka to leave and threatened to arrest him, and Baraka left the property at 2:38 p.m., the suit states. Three New Jersey House members on site for a facility tour joined the mayor and advocated for his entry. Five minutes later, about 20 armed, masked Department of Homeland Security agents swarmed Baraka and 'violently' arrested him without probable cause, the complaint says. He was taken to another DHS facility where agents photographed and fingerprinted him, an experience he called 'humiliating.' He spent five hours in custody. Before agents took Baraka to the DHS facility, Habba already posted on social media that Baraka 'has willingly chosen to disregard the law.' Later that evening, Habba also allegedly made false statements about his arrest on Fox News, and in public appearances with other DHS officials in the following days. The suit contends that Habba and Patel 'conspired' to promote 'false and defamatory' statements about what happened, including that Baraka stormed the facility. 'The false affidavit was made with malice, particularly seeking to assure that the evening news included videos of the Black mayor of Newark, New Jersey, being led away in handcuffs by federal officials,' the filing states. Baraka said Tuesday that race played a role in the incident. 'It's easy for people to believe that a mayor being arrested, especially a mayor that looks like me, has been arrested for something other than what just happened … When people see me in cuffs, they automatically believe I did something wrong, I was guilty,' he said. 'The reality is, I didn't do anything. I went down there for a press conference.' Habba attended a court hearing in Baraka's case, an unusual move for a U.S. attorney. But his charge was dismissed 13 days after his arrest, which he said he learned only after Habba announced on social media she planned to drop the charges. Judge André Espinosa rebuked the U.S. Attorney's Office while dismissing the charge with prejudice, urging attorneys to operate with a higher standard and avoid using their role to advance political agendas. The same day Baraka's case was dismissed, Habba charged Rep. LaMonica McIver with two felony counts of assaulting officers during the scuffle. McIver has called the move 'purely political.' Habba, Trump's personal attorney who he nominated to serve as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, has also said she's investigating Gov. Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Matt Platkin over the state's ban on local law enforcement assisting in civil immigration enforcement. A spokesperson for Habba did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Habba took to social media Monday night to blast Baraka for suing her and offered him 'advice' to instead prioritize violent crime and public safety. 'Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey,' she said. Smith responded by touting a drop in violent crime in Newark during Baraka's term as mayor. Baraka is seeking compensatory damages for pain, suffering, stress, humiliation, mental anguish, personal physical injury, physical sickness and damage to his reputation. 'I don't know if Alina Habba and Ricky Patel have enough resources to pay me for the damages they've caused me. At the end of the day, they should at least apologize — they should at least write me a letter and apologize to me,' he said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
5 hours ago
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Newark mayor Ras Baraka sues US Attorney Habba over arrest at ICE jail
Newark mayor Ras Baraka Tuesday sued U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for wrongful arrest and defamation over his detention last month during a protest outside an immigration jail in the New Jersey city. Baraka claims Habba improperly ordered his arrest and prosecution for allegedly trespassing at Delaney Hall, a detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport that has become a lightning rod for opponents of President Donald Trump's widening crackdown on undocumented immigration. The charges were later withdrawn and a federal judge rebuked Habba, who was recently appointed to the powerful post by Trump, for her conduct. But Baraka says that's not enough. 'This is not about revenge,' Baraka told reporters at a news conference announcing the suit. 'Ultimately, I think this is about them taking accountability for what has happened to me.' Baraka, who is running for governor in a June 10 Democratic primary, accuses the former Trump personal lawyer of 'acting for political reasons and fulfilling her stated goal of 'turning New Jersey red.'' Early voting started across the Garden State Tuesday in the primary pitting Baraka against five other Democrats. 'I want somebody to apologize, write a letter, say this was wrong, come out and say, 'We shouldn't have done this,'' he said. Baraka's suit also accuses Habba of defamation, citing television appearances in which she repeatedly claimed he had broken the law and said he was 'grandstanding' by protesting the privately run facility used to jail accused undocumented immigrants. Habba did not immediately comment on the suit, which also named an investigator for the Department of Homeland Security. The May 9 incident outside Delaney Hall unfolded when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress for an oversight tour, which is authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. Baraka was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge two weeks later. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba, saying her actions amounted to a 'worrisome misstep' and dismissed the criminal case with prejudice. One of the members of Congress present, Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was later charged with felony counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate during the protest. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
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"Reckless disregard of facts": Newark mayor sues Alina Habba, Trump lawyer turned prosecutor
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has filed a lawsuit against Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, after he was arrested last month for protesting at a new immigration detention center. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, accuses Habba of false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation and says that the attorney 'acted as a political operative, outside of any function intimately related to the judicial process.' Habba previously worked as President Donald Trump's personal attorney, including as part of his team in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. Baraka's suit argues that Habba has made her 'biased political goals explicit,' including criticizing Democratic officeholders and saying she hopes to turn the state red, goals which the lawsuit says are 'antithetical to her role and ethical obligations as a U.S. attorney.' In addition, the lawsuit alleges that the U.S. attorney, acting in her personal capacity, made defamatory statements that 'falsely accused Mayor Baraka of criminal conduct and misconduct, despite Habba's actual knowledge and reckless disregard of facts demonstrating his innocence.' At the time of his arrest, the Newark mayor was accused of trespassing and disregarding warnings that he would be arrested if he did not leave. He insisted he did nothing wrong and charges against him were dropped. Baraka is currently running in the Democratic primary to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy. In-person early voting begins today, with the primary election taking place next Tuesday.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
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Newark mayor Ras Baraka sues US Attorney Habba over arrest at ICE jail
Newark mayor Ras Baraka Tuesday sued U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for wrongful arrest and defamation over his detention last month during a protest outside an immigration jail in the New Jersey city. Baraka claims Habba improperly ordered his arrest and prosecution for allegedly trespassing at Delaney Hall, a detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport that has become a lightning rod for opponents of President Donald Trump's widening crackdown on undocumented immigration. The charges were later withdrawn and a federal judge rebuked Habba, who was recently appointed to the powerful post by Trump, for her conduct. But Baraka says that's not enough. 'This is not about revenge,' Baraka told reporters at a news conference announcing the suit. 'Ultimately, I think this is about them taking accountability for what has happened to me.' Baraka, who is running for governor in a June 10 Democratic primary, accuses the former Trump personal lawyer of 'acting for political reasons and fulfilling her stated goal of 'turning New Jersey red.'' Early voting started across the Garden State Tuesday in the primary pitting Baraka against five other Democrats. 'I want somebody to apologize, write a letter, say this was wrong, come out and say, 'We shouldn't have done this,'' he said. Baraka's suit also accuses Habba of defamation, citing television appearances in which she repeatedly claimed he had broken the law and said he was 'grandstanding' by protesting the privately run facility used to jail accused undocumented immigrants. Habba did not immediately comment on the suit, which also named an investigator for the Department of Homeland Security. The May 9 incident outside Delaney Hall unfolded when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress for an oversight tour, which is authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. Baraka was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge two weeks later. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba, saying her actions amounted to a 'worrisome misstep' and dismissed the criminal case with prejudice. One of the members of Congress present, Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., was later charged with felony counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate during the protest. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month.
