Federal prosecutors allege Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention facility.
Federal prosecutors allege Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention facility. Congresswoman Rep.
LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., exits the grounds at Delancey Hall ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J.block the arrest of the Newark mayorsaid McIver was protesting the removal of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka from a congressional tour of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark on May 9.The complaint says she attempted to stop the arrest of the mayor and pushed into agents for Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She faces two counts of assaulting, resisting and impeding an officer. McIver has denied any wrongdoing and has accused federal agents of escalating the situation by arresting the mayor. She denounced the charge as “purely political” and said prosecutors are distorting her actions in an effort to deter legislative oversight.Prosecuting McIver is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. The case instantly taps into a broader and more consequential struggle between a Trump administration engaged in overhauling immigration policy and a Democratic party scrambling to respond. Within minutes of Habba’s announcement, McIver’s Democratic colleagues cast the prosecution as an infringement on lawmakers’ official duties to serve their constituents and an effort to silence their opposition to an immigration policy that helped propel the president back into power but now has emerged as divisive fault line in American political discourse. Members of Congress are authorized by law to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without advance notice. Congress passed a A nearly two-minute clip released by the Homeland Security Department shows McIver on the facility side of a chain-link fence just before the arrest of the mayor on the street side of the fence. She and uniformed officials go through the gate and she joins others shouting they should circle the mayor. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police” on it. It isn’t clear from bodycam video whether that contact was intentional, incidental or a result of jostling in the chaotic scene. The complaint says she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him. Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s top border adviser, said during an interview on Fox News Tuesday “she broke the law and we’re going to hold her accountable”House Democratic leaders decried the criminal case against their colleague in a lengthy statement, calling the charge “extreme” and ”morally bankrupt” and lacking “any basis in law or fact.New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone called the arrest “outrageous” and said the lawmakers “were met by unidentified masked agents with loaded weapons, and now they face charges? The department of justice and ICE are weaponizing this place.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Tuesday during a Congressional hearing that lawmakers can conduct oversight but accused those who visited the Newark detention facility of showing up with a “mob” intending to break in and attack law enforcement. New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, who along with Rep. Rob Menendez had joined McIver at the detention center, told reporters Tuesday that her and Menendez’s attorneys are scheduled to meet Wednesday with Habba’s office. “That’s the first contact that we’ve actually had from her so we don’t know what she has intended, but we’re ready for whenever it might be,” she said.“It’s a possibility and it may be a probability. We shall see,” she said.McIver, 38, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November. A Newark native, she served as the president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city’s public schools before that.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Democratic Rep. McIver charged with assault after skirmish at ICE center, New Jersey prosecutor saysNew Jersey’s top federal prosecutor says she’s charging Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault after a skirmish with federal officers who arrested the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention center.
Read more »
Democratic Rep. McIver Hit With Federal Assault Charges Over ICE ClashRep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., denounced the federal charges against her as “purely political,” and said they are “meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight.”
Read more »
Prosecutor charges Democratic Rep. McIver pushed, grabbed agents while trying to stop mayor's arrestFederal prosecutors alleged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark mayor
Read more »
Prosecutors charge McIver with pushing and grabbing agents while trying to stop mayor's arrestFederal prosecutors allege Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention facility.
Read more »
Prosecutors charge McIver with pushing and grabbing agents while trying to stop mayor's arrestFederal prosecutors allege Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey pushed and grabbed officers while attempting to block the arrest of the Newark mayor outside an immigration detention facility.
Read more »
Prosecutors charge congresswoman with pushing and grabbing agents while trying to stop mayor’s arrestDemocratic Rep. LaMonica McIver has denied any wrongdoing and accused federal agents of escalating the situation.
Read more »