NJ Congresswoman Charged After Protest at ICE Facility

Criminal charges were filed Monday against Rep. LaMonica McIver, a week and a half after her involvement in a protest at an ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. The Democrat congresswoman, whose district includes Newark, was at the facility along with two of her fellow House Democrats and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested at the detention center and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. But the acting US attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, announced Monday that Baraka's case has been dismissed while McIver has been charged with assaulting, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement, NBC News reports. McIver must turn herself in as soon as possible, and could face jail time if convicted on the felony charges, according to Fox News.

The New Jersey Globe has statements from a number of officials, including Habba and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, on the allegations against McIver—as well as many statements from the congresswoman's colleagues on the left, accusing the Trump administration of a political prosecution. "We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short," says McIver in her own statement. "Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka." It's not clear why the charge against Baraka was dropped, but in his statement, the mayor said he expects McIver to be "vindicated" in her case. (More Justice Department stories.)