Several Democratic members of Congress may soon be facing arrest after allegedly assaulting law enforcement officials when they stormed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in New Jersey.
In the altercation that was caught on camera, Congressmembers LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Rob Menendez, along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, allegedly stormed the Delaney Hall Detention Center when an ICE official was assaulted, Fox News reported.
Baraka is the only person in the delegation who has been arrested so far, but that could change, according to an ICE spokeswoman.
“If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that’s housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said when she appeared on “Fox News Live” and spoke to host Kevin Corke on Saturday. “Just because you are a member of Congress or just because you’re a public official, does not mean you are above the law.
“If you assault a law enforcement officer, we will also make sure you answer to justice,” she said. “So, I think that arrests are still on the table for this. This is an ongoing investigation.”
Part of the video DHS says it has allegedly shows a member of Congress “body-slamming a female ICE officer.”
Rep. McIver tried to get ahead of the story in a post on X where she said that she was the one who was assaulted by ICE.
“The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled @repbonnie, and arrested @rasjbaraka. They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we’re elected to do. But we’ll never back down in our fight for what is right,” she said.
“Contrary to a press statement put out by DHS we did not ‘storm’ the detention center,” Rep. Watson Coleman said. “The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground[s] that they didn’t even correctly count the number of Representatives present.”
However, bodycam footage released by ICE following the incident appears to show McIver as the aggressor.
WATCH:
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin explained on X: “NEW: DHS has provided @FoxNews ICE bodycam video from the altercation at the Delaney Hall detention facility yesterday. They say the video clearly shows @RepLaMonica (red clothing) shoving/elbowing her way past a DHS agent to get past the gate and into the property, followed behind by @RepMenendez & that it also shows Congresswoman McIver screaming in the faces of DHS agents.”
Baraka’s attorneys said that he was arrested “on a charge of trespass, a municipal charge which would normally be handled by way of a ticket.”
But Alina Habba, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, said that the mayor was warned more than once that he would be arrested.
“The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,” she said in a post on X.