A new report documents that federal charges are coming for a member of Congress who was part of a leftist team that stormed into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.
A report from the New Jersey Globe had speculated that charges would be filed against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., on Friday, but then later updated that to say they apparently will come later.
McIver was part of a “scrum” at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark last week. Multiple protesters, including McIver, barged into the facility against the futile resistance of security officers.
Several sources told the New Jersey Globe that McIver already is set to be represented by Paul Fishman, who was a Barack Obama appointee as U.S. attorney for New Jersey during that administration, and Les Cortes, a former assistant.
The report explained, “On Friday, May 9, McIver and three other prominent New Jersey Democrats – Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Ewing, and Rob Menendez, D-Jersey City, – visited Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility in the East Ward of Newark that began housing immigrant detainees at the beginning of this month, for an oversight visit.”
The violence soon followed.
Baraka soon was arrested by authorities who said he was trespassing, a confrontation that triggered a further scuffle involving the officials, ICE agents and protesters.
The report explained, “Video footage shows the fight to have been a general scramble. McIver in particular forcefully attempted to protect Baraka both physically and verbally as he was led away, which may be the basis for charges against her, though claims from some Republicans that she body-slammed or punched ICE officers are more dubious based on the footage available.”
There’s also possibly a move to expel the Democrats from the U.S. House, where majority Republicans have suggested considering several options, from stripping the offenders of their committee assignments to more.
The Democrats have claimed they did nothing wrong.