After allegedly assaulting law enforcement officials earlier this month at a protest outside a Newark, N.J., immigration detention facility, far-left New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver will face criminal charges.
“Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement,” Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, wrote in a statement posted on X.
Habba announced the charges against the firebrand Democrat as she noted misdemeanor charges against Democrat Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for allegedly trespassing on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility grounds would be dismissed.
McIver’s attorney Paul Fishman told NBC News that the charges are “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.”
‘You Will be Prosecuted’
Federal authorities say McIver, who boasts of being the first black woman to represent her district and the youngest to be elected to the House from New Jersey, did not have the right to allegedly attack ICE agents in the May 9 fracas. McIver denies the allegations.
“That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties,” Habba said in the statement.
The congresswoman, who was elected in September to fill out the term of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. following his fatal heart attack, called the charges “purely political.”
That’s precisely how McIver’s critics see her actions.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said what Democrats are fond of saying, that “no one is above the law.”
“If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Noem wrote on X.
The secretary said federal officials conducted a thorough review of video footage of the melee at Delaney Hall in determining to file charges against the congresswoman.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration will “always protect those who work tirelessly to keep America safe.”
“I echo what @USAttyHabba has made clear: assaults on federal law enforcement will not be tolerated,” Blanche wrote on X.
Prosecutors told Fox News that McIver faces several felony charges, and must soon turn herself in to law enforcement authorities.
Habba said she has given “McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution” without the step of bringing criminal charges, but the representative “has unfortunately declined.”
She noted that after “extensive consideration,” her office agreed to drop the trespass charges against the mayor “for the sake of moving forward.” The prosecutor said she has invited Baraka to tour the detention facility, adding that “the government has nothing to hide.”
Mostly ‘Peaceful’
On May 9, McIver joined fellow New Jersey Dem Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez in their protest/fact-finding mission. They invited Baraka, who had previously been denied entrance, to come with them. They loudly demanded federal officials let them into the detention facility so they could inspect conditions, the lawmakers claimed. The politicians were the center of an organized demonstration. They were ultimately granted entry.
As Newsweek reported, a “scuffle soon broke out between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, protesters at the entrance and the four Democrats. Baraka was subsequently arrested and taken into custody by ICE.”
McIver claims that she and her colleagues sought a “peaceful and short” visit, despite their very public attempts to gin up outrage over the Trump administration’s attempts to enforce U.S. immigration law. They have accused the administration of “lean[ing] into chaos, confusion, and cruelty.
McIver isn’t the first leftist public official charged with interfering with federal law enforcement of immigration laws. Last week, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan was indicted by a federal grand jury after the Department of Justice accused her of knowingly concealing an illegal alien from arrest and obstructing federal law enforcement proceedings. Dugan, who pleaded not guilty, allegedly helped Eduardo Flores-Ruiz briefly escape arrest via an exit not accessible to the general public. Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican national who had previously been deported, was in court and scheduled to appear before Dugan to face charges of battery in the beating of two people at a Milwaukee residence, according to the criminal complaint.
About the same time Dugan was being arrested, former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Jose Luis “Joel” Cano was apprehended in an evidence tampering case. He allegedly assisted an illegal immigrant suspected of being a member of a notorious Venezuelan gang.
“No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise,” Habba said in the statement on the charges being filed against the New Jersey congresswoman. “It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.”
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
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