The Justice Department has charged Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver with assaulting a federal officer during a tense protest outside a New Jersey immigration detention center.
The charge, announced by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, marks a rare federal prosecution of a sitting member of Congress for something other than fraud or corruption. “Assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement” is the official charge, but court documents haven’t yet been made public.
The incident happened during what McIver and other Democratic lawmakers called an oversight visit to Delaney Hall, an ICE-run detention center in Newark. The protest escalated after ICE agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who had joined the lawmakers at the site.
A short video released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver moving through a chain-link fence and joining a group yelling, “Surround the mayor.” In the video, she appears to touch a federal officer, but it’s unclear if the contact was deliberate or accidental in the chaos.
McIver is calling the charge politically motivated. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right,” she said in a statement. “I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”
Her lawyer, Paul Fishman, blasted the DOJ’s move as a “spectacularly inappropriate” prosecution, saying McIver was doing her job. “This prosecution is an attempt to shift the blame for ICE’s behavior to Congresswoman McIver,” he said.
Federal officials defended the charge. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the decision followed a “thorough review of the video footage.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche posted: “Assaults on federal law enforcement will not be tolerated.”
While McIver faces prosecution, Mayor Baraka’s case was dropped. Baraka had faced a trespassing charge after trying to enter the detention center with McIver. Habba said she dismissed the case “for the sake of moving forward” and invited Baraka to tour the facility with her.
Baraka said in a statement: “I will continue to advocate for the humane treatment of detainees.” He also stood firmly behind McIver, calling her a “daughter of Newark” and saying, “I fully expect her to be vindicated.”
House Democratic leaders didn’t hold back. In a joint statement, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and other top Democrats slammed the charge as “extreme, morally bankrupt” and politically driven. “House Democrats will not be intimidated by the Trump administration. Not today. Not ever.”
McIver, 38, was elected to Congress last year after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. She previously led Newark’s city council and worked in public schools.
