DHS Spox Threatens To Arrest Members Of Congress Over ICE Facility Incident

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Now they’re not just arresting mayors, but threatening members of Congress as well.

Here’s how things started off this Friday:

Federal officials arrested Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a candidate for governor, during a protest over the Trump administration’s housing of migrants at the private Delaney Hall detention facility that also drew multiple members of Congress — asserting that Baraka unlawfully trespassed on federal property and defied orders to leave.

The arrest, which follows other Trump administration arrests of local officials including a judge in Wisconsin, was met with immediate outrage by New Jersey officials, with several demanding his immediate release — and others saying that the stated reason for Baraka’s arrest doesn’t make sense.

“I am outraged by the unjust arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this afternoon outside of Delaney Hall in Newark,” wrote New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, noting that the mere existence of Delaney Hall is in violation of New Jersey state law prohibiting private immigration detention facilities. “I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.”

Baraka was released later that day and defended himself during an interview on CNN:

Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t waste any time defending himself after his arrest outside an ICE facility sparked a chaotic scene that included protesters and several members of Congress who were on site.

“It was really humiliating and painful,” Baraka, who said he’s now facing a federal trespassing charge, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday. […]

“After they told us to leave, we left and they began to try to arrest me,” Baraka said. “I shouldn’t say us. They targeted me and came after me specifically and arrested me.” He also slammed comments from Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and longtime Trump ally, that accused the Newark mayor of ignoring multiple warnings.

“The reality is, Alina Habba wasn’t there,” he said. “She doesn’t know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move.”

“Not a single person,” he added. “Not an officer from ICE, not any of the security guards, nobody told me to leave that place.”

Now they’re threatening the members of Congress who were there as well: Trump admin eyes arrests for House Dems over ICE incident:

Democratic members of Congress who were part of a scuffle with law enforcement officers at an ICE facility in New Jersey may face arrests, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Axios Saturday.

Why it matters: It would be a major escalation in the Trump administration’s arrests of politicians and other public servants, including the mayor of Newark and a judge in Milwaukee.

• DHS is accusing the House Democrats of assaulting law enforcement. The lawmakers say they were the ones who were assaulted.
• The lawmakers involved in the incident: Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) and LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.).

What they’re saying: DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a CNN interview on Saturday morning that “there will likely be more arrests coming.”

• “We actually have body camera footage of these members of Congress assaulting these ICE enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer,” she added.
• McLaughlin said there is an “ongoing investigation” and that arresting the lawmakers is “definitely on the table.”
• She confirmed in a text message to Axios that the House Democrats may be arrested.

The other side: “Threatening to arrest Members of Congress for exercising their lawful oversight authority is another example of this administration abusing its power to try to intimidate anyone who stands up to them,” said a spokesperson for Watson Coleman.

• The spokesperson said their office has “reviewed the body came footage” and that it proves “ICE agents put their hands on Members of Congress … it also proves that DHS has been lying about this incident.”
• “We’re honestly surprised they released this footage given that it so wholly contradicts their claims. Nobody was ‘body slammed’ nobody ‘assaulted’ any agents, and this footage confirms that.”

Zoom in: McIver said at a press conference Friday after the incident that she was “assaulted by multiple ICE officers while regional directors of ICE watched it happen.”

• “Nobody offered an apology or said anything to me about what occurred out here,” she added.

• House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stood by his members in a statement saying “the masked agents who physically accosted two Congresswomen must be identified immediately.”

I’ll believe that footage exists when I see it.