Grand Jury Indicts Democrat Rep. For Forcibly Interfering With ICE

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., faces more than eight years in prison after a New Jersey grand jury for the Department of Justice indicted her Tuesday for her role in a May 9 scuffle outside the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark.

According to the allegations in the indictment, McIver “forcibly impeded and interfered with federal officers” when they tried to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside the ICE detention facility.

McIver was there to “conduct a congressional oversight inspection,” with two other Democrat members of Congress, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rep. Rob Menendez, both also representing New Jersey.

As they began their visit, an immigration protest rally was underway outside the facility’s security gate. The congressional delegation was then brought inside the secure area on the other side of the gate.

Shortly after, Mayor Baraka arrived with his security detail and told the gate guard that he was part of the congressional entourage. First, he was denied entry, but after the guard became concerned for the mayor’s safety, he was allowed inside the secure area.

But a federal officer said the mayor “was not authorized to be in the facility’s secured area, and issued Mayor Baraka multiple warnings that he would be arrested if he did not leave.”

They discussed this for about five minutes, according to the indictment.

The congressional delegation protested his removal and were told that, as members of Congress, they had the authority to be there but the mayor did not.

Ultimately, officers tried to handcuff the mayor, telling him to put his hands behind his back. But the congressional delegation surrounded the mayor, preventing them from handcuffing him.

 Around this time, McIver was yelling, “Hell no! Hell no!” the indictment said.

Officers escorted Mayor Baraka outside the secure area and again tried to put him in handcuffs. According to the indictment, McIver “hurried outside towards the agents and attempted to thwart the arrest as others yelled, ‘Circle the mayor.’”

“McIver then faced the Mayor and placed her arms around him in an effort to prevent [a Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent] from completing the arrest,” The DOJ said in a statement. “During her continued attempts to thwart the arrest, McIver slammed her forearm into the body of one law enforcement officer and reached out and tried to restrain that officer by forcibly grabbing him.  McIver also used each of her forearms to forcibly strike a second officer.”

McIver is charged with three counts of “Assaulting, Resisting, Impeding, and Interfering with a Federal Officer.” Two counts carry a penalty of up to 8 years in prison each, and the third count carries up to one year in prison, according to the DOJ.

Her attorney Paul Fishman, partner at Arnold & Porter, called the charges political.

“The legal process will expose this prosecution for what it truly is — political retaliation against a dedicated public servant who refuses to shy away from her oversight responsibilities. We are eager to challenge these allegations head-on in court and fully expect the congresswoman’s exoneration,” Fishman said in an email statement.

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.