Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility. The charge was later dropped. Baraka, who leads New Jersey's biggest city, is a candidate in a crowded primary field for the Democratic nomination for governor next Tuesday, reports the AP. The lawsuit against interim US Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba coincided with the day early in-person voting began.
The lawsuit seeks damages for "false arrest and malicious prosecution," and also accuses Habba of defamation for comments she made about his case. Citing a post on X in which Habba said Baraka "committed trespass," the lawsuit says Habba issued a "defamatory statement" and authorized his "false arrest" despite "clear evidence that Mayor Baraka had not committed the petty offense of 'defiant trespass.'" The suit also names Ricky Patel, the Homeland Security Investigations agent in charge in Newark.
The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center began on May 9 when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress—Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman—who went to the facility for an oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of President Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. He was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge and charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them.
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Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, opened earlier this year as a federal immigration detention facility. Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which owns and operates the property, was awarded a 15-year contract valued at $1 billion in February. The announcement was part of the president's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year. Baraka sued Geo soon after that deal was announced.
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