June 11 (UPI) — Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted on federal charges by the U.S. Justice Department for her alleged actions outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in May.
Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, wrote in an X post Tuesday that a federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging McIver, D-N.J., with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.”
McIver said on social media Tuesday that she will plead not guilty.
“The facts of this case will prove I was simply doing my job and will expose these proceedings for what they are: a brazen attempt at political intimidation,” she wrote. “This indictment is no more justified than the original charges, and is an effort by Trump’s administration to dodge accountability for the chaos ICE caused and scare me out of doing the work I was elected to do. But it won’t work — I will not be intimidated.”
McIver is alleged to have assaulted federal law enforcement officers during an incident that took place in Newark, N.J., in May at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility.
She alleged she was present to conduct oversight of the facility when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, also present at Delaney Hall at the time, was ordered to leave a secured area there. The situation escalated when Department of Homeland Security agents arrested Baraka on trespassing charges.
“When officers moved in to arrest the Mayor, McIver and others surrounded the Mayor and prevented the officers from handcuffing him,” the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday.
The statement further alleged that McIver “slammed her forearm into the body of one law enforcement officer and also reached out and tried to restrain that officer by forcibly grabbing him.”
“McIver also used each of her forearms to forcibly strike a second officer,” it said.
If convicted, McIver could spend as many as 17 years in prison.
