Listen: Rep. McIver Dismisses DOJ Assault Charges As ‘Purely Political’

The DOJ has charged U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault. Photo/Bob Hennelly

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By Bob Hennelly

On the latest episode of WBAI’s “What’s Going On?” Issac Ferguson reports on acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba charging Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) with allegedly assaulting DHS/ICE officers as they were taking Newark Mayor Ras Baraka into custody on May 9.  

McIver, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), as well as Rep. Robert Menendez Jr. (D-NJ) Jr. were all on a Congressional oversight visit to Delaney Hall— the GEO Group’s private immigration prison—set to handle 1,000 detainees in Newark. GEO employs 18,000 people at 50 locations around the world. 

Baraka asserts the facility has refused to comply with city building and fire codes. McIver attempted to shield Baraka from arrest outside the facility on a public street.

Baraka was charged with trespass and held for five hours as several hundred Newark residents and supporters gathered outside demanding his release.

“No one is above the law—politicians or otherwise,” Habba said when announcing the charges against McIver.  “It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are.”

McIver, however, dismissed the DOJ charges as “purely political.”

“They mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she said. 

Video of the May 9 event outside Delaney Hall further contradicts the DOJ charges.

Habba, meanwhile, dropped charges against Baraka who is running for governor in New Jersey.

“The proceeding initiated by the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a statement from Democratic House leadership.

Listen to the entire show below: