New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted On Assault Charges

The Trump administration continues taking pages out of the authoritarian playbook with its attempts to intimidate political opponents through arrests and questionable court cases. Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba announced that a grand jury has indicted New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver (D) on assault charges stemming from a protest outside an ICE facility last month.

According to CBS,  Rep. McIver has been charged with “assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with federal officers.” On May 9, McIver was joined by two other members of Congress to conduct federal oversight at Delaney Hall, a privately owned 1,000-bed facility in Newark that was converted into an ICE detention center. While they were on site, a protest took place, which included Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. At some point, protesters began to clash with law enforcement as they moved to arrest Mayor Baraka, when McIver joined to intervene. 

From CBS:

A special agent with the Newark division of the Department of Homeland Security investigation team alleged in a sworn affidavit for the initial charges that after McIver and others attempted to block Baraka’s arrest by creating a human shield, she “slammed her forearm into the body” of a uniformed Homeland Security Investigations agent and “reached out and tried to restrain” that agent from grabbing the mayor. 

He also stated that after Baraka was in custody, she “pushed an ICE officer” and “used each of her forearms to forcibly strike” them.

In footage posted online by DHS, McIver, wearing a red jacket, can be seen along the Delaney Hall fence as Baraka is being arrested. As the group of protesters and law enforcement start to brush up against each other, McIver is spotted using her elbows to move herself past an officer.

So, ICE and DHS — the people forcibly removing people from their homes, invading work sites, and arresting political opponents — are suddenly wilting flowers when someone brushes past them with their elbows? How am I supposed to take these people seriously when they’re acting like the Drake of law enforcement? 

McIver released a statement saying she intends to plead not guilty to the charges and called them a “brazen attempt at political intimidation.”

“This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do. But it won’t work—I will not be intimidated,” she wrote. Should McIver be found guilty on all three counts, she could face up to 17 years in prison.

As mentioned earlier, Mayor Baraka was arrested for trespassing but was released shortly after, and the charges were dropped. Baraka has since filed a lawsuit against Habba and the DHS agent overseeing the arrest and protest response. It’s certainly curious that Habba is still pursuing charges against McIver, given the rebuke she was given by the judge overseeing her initial charges against Baraka. 

“An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool…it is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences, and it should only be undertaken after a thorough and dispassionate evaluation of credible evidence,” Judge André M. Espinosa said in the court documents.  

The charges come as the Trump administration has made continued threats to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom over the continuous protests against ICE agents in the state. Factoring in the deployment of both the National Guard and the Marines to California, it’s clear Trump’s campaign promise to be “a dictator” has gone far beyond day one. 

SEE ALSO:

Ras Baraka Attends Status Conference For Newark Trespassing Case

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Sues Over Arrest At ICE Facility

New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted On Assault Charges Stemming From ICE Protest   was originally published on newsone.com