Police arrest New Jersey mayor during ICE protest

Authorities detained Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on Friday for trespassing on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention site in the city, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said in a Friday statement. Baraka willfully disregarded the law and ignored multiple warnings from security officials telling him to leave, she said. That won’t stand in New Jersey because no one is above the law, she added. Footage online showed a crowd of people shoving security outside the ICE detention center gates, with other clips showing police later leading Baraka away in handcuffs. Several members of Congress were among the crowd.

Why were Congress members there? New Jersey Democratic Reps. LaMonica McIver, Rob Menendez, and Bonnie Watson Coleman visited the prison on Friday to investigate troubling rumors about the prison, Coleman wrote Friday afternoon. ICE opened the facility without the city’s permission, and lawmakers are exercising oversight authority to personally investigate concerns, she said.

Baraka waited outside the prison for a planned meeting with representatives after the oversight visit finished, McIver told the media. Baraka stepped inside the gate and told security that he was waiting for the representatives to finish, but walked back out of the gate when instructed by security, she continued. Baraka continued waiting outside the gate as instructed, when security officials came out and found the mayor to arrest him. Baraka had already left the gated area and had done nothing wrong when security decided to arrest him, McIver argued.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy described his outrage at Baraka’s arrest and called for his immediate release on Friday. Mayor Baraka is an exemplary public servant who has always defended his most vulnerable neighbors, according to Murphy’s statement. Baraka is one of many legislators and faith leaders who advocated against opening a private immigration detention center in Newark, he added. New Jersey Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherill also called for the mayor’s immediate release and criticized the Trump administration’s decision to open the facility in the first place.