Democratic New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver faces two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officials in connection with a protest outside an ICE detention facility earlier on May 9.
McIver said she learned of the charges on Tuesday after interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba posted on social media.
“It’s political intimidation, and I’m looking forward to my day in court,” she said Tuesday. McIver had called the charges “purely political” in a statement on Monday night and said she looked forward “to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested following the incident in which he attempted to join McIver and two other House Democrats who say they were on site to inspect the ICE facility in their capacity as lawmakers conducting federal oversight.
McIver said ICE agents were responsible for creating an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation, as the Democratic officials were assaulted by multiple ICE agents.
Trump administration officials claim the lawmakers stormed the facility.
Mayor Baraka was charged with trespassing, but charges were later dropped. After Baraka was detained, the three lawmakers were not arrested, but given the tour of the facility they asked for.
McIver’s lawyer, Paul Fishman, called the decision to charge her “spectacularly inappropriate.”
“She went to Delaney Hall to do her job. As a member of Congress, she has the right and responsibility to see how ICE is treating detainees. Rather than facilitating that inspection, ICE agents chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos. This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE’s behavior to Congresswoman McIver,” Fishman said in a statement.
