In a significant legal development, a federal judge has decreed that Representative LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, will stand trial on charges of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer near a Newark immigration detention center.
U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper dismissed McIver’s request to dismiss two out of the three charges against her, as reported by Bloomberg. McIver had argued that the charges were politically motivated and that her position as an elected official provided her immunity from prosecution, both of which the judge did not accept.
The charges stem from McIver’s actions during a disturbance at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark this past May, where she is accused of assaulting, resisting, and obstructing law enforcement officers.
Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, alongside Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba, announced the charges, stressing that “no one is above the law.”
The charges originated from an incident on May 9, when Representatives McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and Robert Menendez, along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, visited Delaney Hall under the pretext of “conducting federal oversight.” The visit escalated, leading to accusations of trespassing and Baraka’s arrest on criminal trespass charges.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted a thorough review of the event, capturing the actions on video. Following this, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey decided to charge McIver with assault and obstruction, as noted by Secretary Noem in a social media post. She reiterated, “No one is above the law,” emphasizing that any individual, regardless of political ties or status, who assaults a law enforcement officer, as McIver allegedly did, will face prosecution to the fullest extent.
“We thank our brave ICE law enforcement officers for their service to this great nation,” Noem added.
DHS later dismissed Mayor Baraka’s charges.
Noem added that the Democrats’ attack on the facility was unnecessary because she had invited in any official that wanted tour the facility a month before the Democrats assembled for their publicity stunt.
The New Jersey congresswoman was ultimately indicted over her behavior during the stunt.
The indictment includes three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with federal officials. Habba said two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third has a maximum sentence of one year.
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