Congresswoman McIver Charged With Assaulting and Impeding Federal Officers at Newark ICE Facility
In a rare move in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, a sitting member of Congress was criminally charged by federal prosecutors on May 19, 2025. Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba announced that day that her office had charged U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver with assaulting, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a May 9 confrontation outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention facility in Newark; a criminal complaint filed the same day contains two counts. McIver responded in a statement calling the charges purely political.
According to the criminal complaint (Mag. No. 2:25-mj-15118), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Robert Tansey stated in an affidavit that on May 9 McIver arrived at Delaney Hall with two other members of Congress, allegedly to conduct a congressional oversight inspection, while an immigration protest rally was taking place in the unsecured area in front of the facility; when the security gate opened momentarily to allow a vehicle to enter, McIver and the two other members of Congress moved quickly inside the secured area as the gate closed. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka then entered the secured area, and an HSI agent repeatedly ordered him to leave and warned he would be arrested, while McIver and the other members challenged the agent, protesting the mayor's removal; the agent explained that members of Congress had lawful authority to be there and that the mayor did not.
The complaint alleges that when the agent announced he would arrest the mayor, McIver yelled “Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!”, and that she and other members of Congress surrounded the mayor and prevented HSI from handcuffing him; after the mayor was moved outside the gate, McIver hurried toward the agents, attempted to thwart the arrest, and placed her arms around the mayor as she and others encircled him in a 'human shield.' Specifically, the complaint alleges McIver slammed her forearm into the body of V-1, a uniformed HSI agent, and reached out and tried to restrain V-1 by forcibly grabbing him, and that following the arrest she pushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer, V-2, and used each of her forearms to forcibly strike V-2 as she returned inside the secured area. Both counts arise under 18 U.S.C. § 111(a)(1), forcibly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with federal officers, involving physical contact.
In her statement announcing the charges, Habba said: “Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.” She also announced that her office would dismiss the previously filed trespassing charge against Mayor Baraka.
McIver responded in a May 20 statement: “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. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.” She said: “The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight.”
McIver, a Democrat, represents New Jersey's 10th Congressional District. The complaint was attested before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacey D. Adams. A complaint is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty; GSM will follow later developments, including the June grand jury indictment, in separate coverage. (Source: U.S. federal court complaint)
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：联邦众议员 LaMonica McIver 第119届国会官方肖像。Brian Thorpe 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons（众议员官网图）。 / Photo: Official portrait of U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver for the 119th Congress. Photo by Brian Thorpe, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (from the Representative's official House website).
