OAN Staff Abril Elfi
1:04 PM – Tuesday, May 20, 2025
New Jersey Democrat Congresswoman LaMonica McIver has been charged with assault following a confrontation with ICE agents outside an immigration detention center in New Jersey.
On Monday, McIver (D-N.J.) was charged after she purportedly assaulted law enforcement officers outside an ICE detention facility earlier this month.
Acting U.S. Attorney of New Jersey Alina Habba announced that she would charge the Congresswoman with assault and hindering a law enforcement officer.
On May 9th, McIver and other Democrat members of Congress, including Ras Baraka (D-N.J.), the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, protested outside Delaney Hall — a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.
According to Habba, tensions at the protest soon escalated — with politicians and agents both pushing and shoving each other.
“Representative LaMonica McIver assaulted, impeded, and interfered with law enforcement in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1),” Habba said in a statement. “That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected.”
“No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise. It is the job of this office to uphold Justice, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work,” Habba added.
Following the charges, McIver alleged in a statement that the decision was “politically-motivated.”
“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” McIver said. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court,” she added.
President Donald Trump noted that he felt McIver was “out of control” after he was asked his opinion on the charges.
“I have no idea who she is,” Trump told reporters. “That woman was out of control. She was shoving federal agents. She was out of control. The days of that crap are over in this country. We’re going to have law and order.”
According to the complaint, McIver attempted to “thwart the arrest” of Baraka after he was instructed to leave the facility’s protected area. The complaint also accuses her of making “forcible contact” with authorities, including “smashing her forearm” into a Homeland Security Investigations agent, in addition to pushing and using “each of her forearms to forcibly strike” an ICE officer.
The complaint also reportedly attaches “ stills from officer body camera footage,” which prosecutors say show McIver’s “multiple attempts to forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, and interfere with the agents attempting to take the Mayor into custody.”
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem noted that the charges were brought following a “thorough review of the video footage.”
“If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Noem wrote on X. “We thank our brave ICE law enforcement officers for their service to this great nation.”
Soon after, top House Democrats also released a joint statement, defending McIver and vowing to “vigorously” respond to what they claim is an illegitimate abuse of power.
“An attack on one of us is an attack on the American people. House Democrats will respond vigorously in the days to come at a time, place and manner of our choosing,” the leaders said.
Additionally, the statement said that McIver had successfully toured the facility after the altercation.
“There is no credible evidence that Rep. McIver engaged in any criminal activity, and she would not have been permitted to tour the facility had she done anything wrong,” the lawmakers claimed.
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