Latest news with #RasJBaraka
New York Times
03-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
Newark's Mayor Sues a Top Trump Lawyer, Claiming Malicious Prosecution
Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, a Democratic candidate for governor who was arrested last month outside an immigration detention center, filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, that argues that his arrest was motivated by political malice, not justice. The lawsuit also names Ricky Patel, a supervising agent with Homeland Security Investigations who led the arrest of Mr. Baraka on May 9 outside a 1,000-bed detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport that has become a flashpoint in President Trump's immigration crackdown. Mr. Baraka's lawsuit accuses the federal authorities of false arrest and malicious prosecution. It also accuses Ms. Habba of defamation. The suit comes as polling locations opened Tuesday for six days of early voting ahead of a June 10 primary that has pitted Mr. Baraka against five other Democrats. Last month, Ms. Habba, who was appointed by Mr. Trump to be the state's top federal prosecutor, abruptly announced that she was dropping a trespassing charge against Mr. Baraka — a development that prompted a federal judge to publicly question the validity of the 'hasty arrest' in the first place. 'Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,' the judge, André M. Espinosa, said in a rare and harshly worded rebuke of the U.S. attorney's office that Ms. Habba leads and where he once worked as a prosecutor. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
U.S. Says Lawmaker Assaulted 2 Agents, as Democrats Object to Charges
A criminal complaint made public on Tuesday laid out the U.S. government's claims against Representative LaMonica McIver, depicting her as a ringleader who assaulted two federal agents as she tried to block the arrest of Newark's mayor, Ras J. Baraka, outside a federal migrant detention facility. Ms. McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, was charged with two counts of 'assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers or employees.' She has flatly rejected the government's depiction of the events of May 9, when she and two other members of Congress went to the new detention center in Newark for an oversight visit, which they have the right to conduct under federal law. Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, suggested in a statement announcing the charges late Monday that Ms. McIver had refused an offer to settle the criminal case, but offered no details. Ms. McIver told CNN Monday night that the Justice Department 'wanted me to admit to doing something that I did not do.' 'I came there to do my job and conduct an oversight visit. And they wanted me to say something differently,' said Ms. McIver, 38, who represents New Jersey's 10th Congressional District, which includes most of Newark. Tuesday morning, near her congressional office in Washington, she described the charges as 'political intimidation' and likened them to the indictment of a Wisconsin judge who was accused of helping an undocumented immigrant elude federal agents. The Newark detention center, known as Delaney Hall, is run by GEO Group, one of the country's largest private prison companies. It can house as many as 1,000 detainees at a time and is expected to play a key role in President Trump's mass deportation efforts. It began housing migrants this month and has since become a focal point of protest. It is rare for the Department of Justice to pursue federal criminal charges against a sitting member of Congress for matters other than corruption or campaign finance violations. Democrats cast the charges as a significant escalation of the Trump administration's efforts to tamp down opposition of its immigration agenda, while some Republicans called for the censure of the lawmakers and the expulsion of Ms. McIver. The saga is likely to force a broader political showdown in Congress over the separation of powers as Mr. Trump strives to greatly expand his executive authority and Democrats struggle to push back. The May 9 clash occurred after Mr. Baraka, a Democrat running for governor of New Jersey, had tried to accompany Ms. McIver and the two other lawmakers during their oversight tour of the facility. Mr. Baraka was allowed within the center's gated perimeter by a security guard who 'was under the impression that the mayor was part of the congressional delegation,' according to the criminal complaint. But he was barred from joining them inside the building. Mr. Baraka has said that he and several aides stood within the gate for more than an hour, waiting for the lawmakers to leave the facility, before being asked to leave. In the complaint, Robert Tansey, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, said that 'after numerous warnings to leave,' Mr. Baraka had been told that he was about to be placed under arrest. Ms. McIver interjected, Mr. Tansey said, 'yelling, 'Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!'' According to video footage, a guard opened the locked front gate and Mr. Baraka walked out. Video footage and witness accounts depict a large scrum of people being jostled together as masked agents in camouflage uniforms, some carrying guns in holsters, come out from behind a gate to take Mr. Baraka into custody in a public area swarming with protesters. Ms. McIver and the two other members of Congress — Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez — can be seen surrounding the mayor as the agents move in. Ms. McIver, in an effort to use her body to prevent the mayor's arrest, 'slammed her forearm' into an agent and 'tried to restrain' him by 'forcibly grabbing him,' Mr. Tansey attested. After Mr. Baraka was handcuffed, Ms. McIver pushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and 'used each of her forearms to forcibly strike' the officer, he wrote. Ms. Habba, in the statement announcing the charges against Ms. McIver, also said that the Justice Department had dropped the trespassing charges against the mayor. Susan Vercheak, 74, a lawyer from Maplewood, N.J., said she believed that prosecutors had recognized that they 'had no case whatsoever' against Mr. Baraka. 'There was no basis for federal jurisdiction, so they chickened out,' said Ms. Vercheak, who was one of about 30 protesters who gathered early Tuesday outside Ms. Habba's office in Newark as Democratic lawmakers continued to forcefully question the government's decision to charge Ms. McIver. Senator Andy Kim, Democrat of New Jersey, said the decision to charge Ms. McIver had 'nothing to do with enforcing the law, and everything to do with this administration's attempt to intimidate those who dare speak against them or expose the truth.' The fallout has already led the Homeland Security Department, which houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, to draft changes to strengthen its rules on congressional visits to detention centers, according to an internal document obtained by The New York Times. ICE is working to update its guidance to clarify that visitors, including members of Congress and their staff members, 'may be subject to arrest or other legal action' if they fail to comply with the agency's security rules, the document said. The agency is considering language that would allow it to deny or terminate a congressional visit for a number of reasons, and to expressly bar visitors from coercing or intimidating agents or detainees. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, did not address the changes being considered, but said that ICE 'respects Congress's oversight authority.' 'However, they are not above the law,' she said. 'All members and staff need to comply with facility rules, procedures and instructions from ICE personnel on site for their own safety, the safety of the detainees and the safety of ICE employees.' The charges against Ms. McIver call into question a constitutional protection known as the speech or debate clause, which offers lawmakers a broad degree of protection from criminal penalties that stem from actions taken while performing legislative duties. Last week, after a spokeswoman for the Trump administration said that charges against Ms. McIver, Ms. Watson Coleman and Mr. Menendez were possible, the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, said that any criminal charges represented a 'red line.' 'There are clear lines that they just dare not cross,' he warned. On Monday, Mr. Jeffries said in a joint statement with other top House Democrats that the charges were 'a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.' Homeland Security officials welcomed the charges after days of arguing that the clash was emblematic of the broader threat its ICE agents faced as they ramped up immigration arrests and deportations. 'No one is above the law,' Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland secretary, said in a statement. 'If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.'
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Newark's Mayor Arrested at Protest Outside ICE Detention Center
Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark was arrested Friday outside a detention center in the city that the federal government was using as part of its campaign to deport undocumented immigrants. Alina Habba, a lawyer for President Trump whom he named as New Jersey's interim U.S. attorney, announced the arrest in a social media post. After his arrest, Mr. Baraka, 55, was taken to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, his aides said. Mr. Baraka 'committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center,' Ms. Habba wrote. 'He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.' On Tuesday, Mr. Baraka led a predawn protest outside a detention facility, Delaney Hall, which is expected to hold up to 1,000 migrants a day. For weeks, Newark officials had been arguing in federal court that the center's owner, GEO Group, was in violation of city laws because it had failed to obtain required permits or a valid certificate of occupancy. Three Democratic congressional representatives from New Jersey had also attempted to visit the facility on Friday. In a social media post, one of them, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, wrote that the facility had opened without permission from the city. 'We've heard stories of what it's like in other ICE prisons,' she wrote. 'We're exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.' Representatives Robert Menendez Jr. and LaMonica McIver were also present. Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, described the episode as a 'bizarre political stunt' in a social media post. She said Ms. Watson Coleman and Mr. Menendez, along with 'multiple protesters,' had 'holed up in a guard shack.' 'This illegal breaking and entering of a detention facility puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk,' Ms. McLaughlin said. 'Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.' This is a developing story and will be updated.
