Ras Baraka, the Democratic Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested and taken into custody by federal police officers on Friday. The mayor was attempting to join three U.S. congress members — Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman — on a tour of a New Jersey ICE detention facility.
Baraka was arrested for trespassing.
Coleman posted on X about the visit: “We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.” The congresswoman said the delegation was “exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.”
We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances.
We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves.@RepLaMonica @RepMenendez pic.twitter.com/OIJuePH2XS
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) May 9, 2025
Interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, a Donald Trump appointee who previously served as Trump’s personal attorney, asserted that Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center.”
Habba wrote on X that Baraka had “willingly chosen to disregard the law.”
The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this…
— Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) May 9, 2025
But Baraka, who was released from custody shortly after nightfall, disputed Habba’s version of events in the aftermath.
Baraka told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins: “The reality is, Alina Habba wasn’t there. She doesn’t know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move. I was in there for over an hour. Not a single person.. I did not enter that place unlawfully. I did not break any law.”
[NOTE: Baraka had made previous trips to protest the facility, which he — like Coleman — contends is operating without required permissions.]
Baraka: The reality is, Alina habba wasn’t there. She doesn’t know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move. I was in there for over an hour. Not a single person.. I did not enter that place unlawfully. I did not break any laws pic.twitter.com/RjTVd8euzo
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 10, 2025
Rep. Menendez Jr. also spoke after the event, saying that ICE brought “20 armed individuals to confront the mayor of Newark and three members of Congress,” calling it an act of intimidation.
“It was an act of intimidation not just to the mayor, not just to us, but to everyone watching,” Menendez said. “We know that the president lied, and the administration lies every day when they say they are going after criminals. It is not true. They feel no weight of the law. They feel no restraint.”
ICE, Menendez said, “put their hands on two members of Congress. How is this acceptable?”
HAPPENING NOW: Rep. Bob Menendez, who intervened when ICE put their hands on two female colleagues, is speaking outside the ICE facility in Newark, where Mayor Baraka was arrested.
MAGA is spreading misinformation. Watch and share the truth from those on the scene. pic.twitter.com/nTV417onOU
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) May 9, 2025
Video from the event shows a chaotic scene.
One of those officers very clearly pushes one of those representatives in the back very clearly outside the wire of the facility.
I hope lawyers and others go through these videos frame by frame. https://t.co/K0mldoZR47
— Matthew Spira (@MatthewSpira) May 9, 2025