New Jersey Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver pled not guilty in federal court June 25 to charges of “assaulting, resisting, and impeding” Homeland Security investigators while visiting the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark in May.
The trial date has been set for Nov. 10.
“l pleaded not guilty because I am not guilty,” she said to supporters and press outside the courtroom, flanked by her lawyers Paul Fishman and Lee Cortes. “We will fight this.” She then rushed off to go back to Washington, D.C.
McIver, who appeared by Zoom at an initial hearing on May 21, was present for the June 25 hearing in the courtroom of Judge Jamel Semper. It was two weeks after a three-count indictment announced by Alina Habba, the interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. An indictment is a formal accusation by a grand jury, which leads to a formal plea being entered.
Supporters of McIver filled the courtroom — which was without air conditioning but somehow bearable on a sweltering 90-degree day — as the judge spoke for a few minutes.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the charges against McIver had nothing to do with justice or the law.
McIver and her fellow New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez visited the Newark detention facility on May 9 as part of their congressional oversight duties to inspect the treatment of detainees, accompanied by Baraka.
The 1,196-bed Delaney Hall is the first immigrant detention center to open during the second term of President Donald Trump, during which the president has vowed to deport at least 11 million undocumented immigrants. In February, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency awarded GEO Group a contract to hold migrants facing deportation at Delaney Hall. In May, the detention center opened.
During that visit, Baraka was arrested by Department of Homeland Security agents after an argument with the agents. He was later charged with trespass by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, but that charge was dropped on May 19. Baraka, who was running in the Democratic primary for New Jersey governor, filed a lawsuit against Habba and Homeland Security Special Agent Ricky Patel over his arrest.
The same day that Baraka’s charge was dropped, McIver was charged. In the complaint filed by Homeland Security Special Agent Roger Tansey, he said that McIver “attempted to thwart the arrest” of Baraka as she “slammed her forearm” into the body of one agent and forcibly grabbed him. Tansey then said in the complaint that following Baraka’s arrest, McIver pushed another federal agent and used “each of her forearms to forcibly strike” that agent.
Video shared by the Baraka gubernatorial campaign with NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY Network after Baraka’s arrest shows Watson Coleman and McIver — and later Menendez — attempting to stop federal Homeland Security Investigations agents from detaining Baraka. At one point, a federal agent put his hands on McIver to reach Baraka with handcuffs.
McIver, 38, who represents the 10th Congressional District that includes her hometown of Newark, said in a statement issued May 19 that the charges against her are “purely political” and “mischaracterize and distort my actions.”
Paul Fishman, who served as U.S. Attorney in New Jersey during former President Barack Obama’s term, issued a statement calling the decision to charge as “spectacularly inappropriate,” and that she was doing her job of congressional oversight to ensure when federal agents “chose to escalate what should have been a peaceful situation into chaos.”
“Congresswoman McIver pleaded not guilty because she is not guilty,” he said in a separate statement on June 25. “On May 9, she was at Delaney Hall to carry out her responsibilities as member of Congress. She was there to inspect an ICE detention facility and to see for herself whether the Trump administration is obeying the laws and Constitution of the United States. ICE responded by creating a risky and dangerous situation, and now the Justice Department is doubling down by trying to punish the Congresswoman for doing her job. We are eager to challenge this case on multiple grounds and we are confident that the legal process will ultimately vindicate the congresswoman.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Congresswoman pleads not guilty to federal charges over ICE facility
