A federal grand jury has indicted Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) related to a confrontation that occurred last month outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Alina Habba, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
In a post on X, Habba revealed that the three-count indictment charges McIver with “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal law enforcement officers.” Not surprisingly, McIver is proclaiming her innocence and said in a statement she’ll be entering a plea of not guilty. She faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted on all three counts.
“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,” McIver said in a statement. “This indictment is not 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.”
On May 9, McIver and several other Democrats from New Jersey demanded permission to conduct an “oversight” visit of the ICE detention facility at Delaney Hall. A confrontation occurred between them and agents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as revealed by ICE body-cam footage.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, the indictment states that McIver obstructed and interfered with federal officers during their attempt to arrest the mayor of Newark, who had entered a restricted area.
“Someone in the crowd yelled ‘circle the mayor,’” the DOJ said. “McIver then faced the Mayor and placed her arms around him in an effort to prevent HSI from completing the arrest. During her continued attempts to thwart the arrest, 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.”
“As I have stated in the past, it is my Constitutional obligation as the Chief Federal Law Enforcement Officer for New Jersey to ensure that our federal partners are protected when executing their duties,” Habba declared in her post on X.
“While people are free to express their views for or against particular policies, they must not do so in a manner that endangers law enforcement and the communities those officers serve.” Habba added: “Today’s decision by the grand jury is the next step in a process that my Office will pursue to a just end.”
