A Democrat congresswoman was arrested Monday and charged with a crime after she allegedly assaulted a federal immigration officer outside an ICE facility earlier this month while protesting President Donald Trump’s removal of criminal aliens from the country.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, who represents New Jersey’s 10th congressional district, has been slapped with an assault charge after police say she got into a physical altercation with an ICE agent outside the gates of Delaney Hall, a recently opened immigration detention facility in Newark, during a pro-illegal immigration protest on May 9.
The city’s mayor, Ras Baraka, was also arrested during the protest and charged with misdemeanor trespassing, though that charge was later dropped. Video from the scene appears to show IcIver tussling with an ICE agent during Baraka’s arrest, repeatedly shoving him with her shoulder and trying to step between the agent and the Newark mayor.
BREAKING: Democrat Rep LaMonica McIver will be charged for assaulting an officer
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Despite having allegedly assaulted a federal agent at a detention facility housing illegal aliens who violated immigration law, McIver claims her arrest was “purely political.”
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"Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short," McIver said in a statement. "Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka."
"The charges against me are purely political they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight. This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right," she continued, adding, "I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court."
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