It was a messy scene: a violent crush of civilians and law enforcement on grounds usually tightly controlled for security reasons but now, suddenly, a political powder keg where arms flailed and people got arrested.
Does this sound like the storming of the U.S. Capitol? Or maybe the melee outside Delaney Hall in Newark last year, which resulted in federal charges against a sitting congresswoman?
Why not both?
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, facing up to 17 years in prison over the ordeal, says President Donald Trump’s administration is throwing the book at her for a brief, heated exchange with immigration officers while it let Jan. 6 rioters walk free for more far more violent behavior.
Now, nearly a year after the incident, a loose coalition of civil rights groups, members of Congress and even the same former federal prosecutors who convicted many Jan. 6 defendants have all filed papers to join her appeal, accusing Trump of weaponizing the DOJ against his critics.
The federal criminal prosecution of McIver, a Newark Democrat, marks a relatively rare and particularly rancorous prosecution of a sitting lawmaker, testing the limits of the power of both the U.S. Department of Justice and Congress.
“That woman was out of control,” Trump said after McIver was charged, shortly after saying he had “no idea” who she was.
“The days of that crap are over in this country. We’re going to have law and order.”
McIver, who is up for reelection this fall in North Jersey’s 10th Congressional District, said she’d keep fighting.
After a federal judge declined to toss the case, McIver filed an appeal arguing a selective prosecution. In it, her attorneys compare the government’s accusation against her to the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after the 2020 election and received presidential pardons, in some cases for assaulting law enforcement.
She also argues she’s shielded from the charges by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which gives members of Congress wide immunity from prosecution for their official duties, including site visits at federal facilities.
Her appeal was joined last week by civil rights groups and more than a dozen former federal prosecutors, most of whom worked on Jan. 6 cases before they left or were forced out of the Justice Department.
In an April 6 filing, they wrote that comments from Trump and other administration officials show the case “was motivated by partisan bias, and that Congresswoman McIver was singled out for prosecution because of her decision to use her protected legislative speech rights and her statutorily-authorized congressional oversight responsibilities in a way that this Administration found offensive.”
Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, ran the office until a federal appeals court ruled her appointment illegal. Habba frequently clashed with McIver and other Jersey Democrats and drew criticism for saying early in her tenure she wanted to help “turn New Jersey red.”
In a separate filing, a bipartisan group of former members of Congress also objected to the case, saying if allowed to go forward it “would grant the Executive dangerous and unconstitutional leverage over Congress.”
The Department of Justice and the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office did not return messages seeking comment. An attorney for McIver, former U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, said he was aware of the filings but declined to comment further.
What happened that day May 9, 2025 outside the private-run jail is a matter of much dispute — even though it was all captured on video.
After a man died in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, McIver and two other federal lawmakers made an unannounced visit to Delaney Hall, a private jail that houses ICE detainees.
Congressional lawmakers make such surprise visits as part of their oversight of federal agencies. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security later dismissed the visit as a “reckless stunt by sanctuary politicians.”
The lawmakers were joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and a phalanx of people protesting ICE.
The crowd turned into a jostling scrum when federal officers tried to force Baraka to leave, claiming he lacked the authority to be on the property.
Video captured from officers’ body camera and a security camera posted over the jail shows the crowd growing unruly and pressing against the fences.
McIver, who stands out from the crowd in a red jacket, is seen attempting to intervene in Baraka’s arrest, both pushing and being pushing by officers as the crowd moved through the parking lot toward the fencing.
Once through the gates, McIver grew angry began shaking her finger at the officers and yelling “What? What? What?,” the video shows.
At one point, a supervisor gets between McIver and an officer in tactical gear.
“You better get your officer!“ the congresswoman shouts. ”He just assaulted me!”
Trump administration officials say McIver was the aggressor.
Baraka was arrested that day, but the charges were dropped days after the ordeal, and a federal judge admonished prosecutors over his arrest.
The government then charged McIver, her actions crossed the line from legislative oversight into interference with law enforcement.
Prosecutors say McIver “forcibly impeded and interfered with federal officers,” slamming her forearms into immigration agents and grabbing them as they attempted to arrest Baraka.
No officers sustained injuries during the ordeal, court records show.
The Justice Department still has not yet responded to the appeal. They have rejected claims of political prosecution, saying members of Congress are not beyond criminal prosecution.
McIver, who recently announced she is seeking reelection in the fall, told the New York Times she had racked up more than $1 million in legal fees fighting the charges.
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