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New York Post
25-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
NJ Dem Rep. LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges after chaotic visit to Newark immigration center
Rep. LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing her of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center during a congressional oversight visit at the facility. 'They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,' she said outside the courthouse in Newark after the brief hearing. McIver, a Democrat, was charged by interim US Attorney Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, following the May 9 visit to Newark's Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility as a detention center. Advertisement 5 New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver greeting supporters outside US Court in Newark after pleading not guilty to assault charges stemming from an altercation outside a migrant detention center in May on June 25, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar This month she was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison. During Wednesday's hearing, McIver stood and told US District Judge Jamel Semper: 'Your honor, I plead not guilty.' The judge set a Nov. 10 trial date. Advertisement Outside the courthouse, McIver warned that anyone who pushes back against the Trump administration will find themselves in a similar position. McIver's lawyer, former US Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said McIver pleaded not guilty because she is not guilty. He said federal agents created a risky situation at Delaney Hall. A message seeking comment Wednesday was left with Habba's office. 5 Protesters holding signs demanding that all federal charges against McIver be dropped. REUTERS/Mike Segar Advertisement Among those at McIver's side Wednesday were her family and elected officials, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was outside the detention center with McIver and other legislators on May 9. Baraka was also arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution. Baraka accused the Trump administration of using law enforcement as 'an appendage of their ideology to begin to hammer us.' 5 McIver clashing with federal law enforcement officers outside of Delaney Hall in Newark on May 9, 2025. U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey Advertisement 5 McIver's elbow going into a law enforcement officer during the scuffle. U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey The indictment of McIver is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen the Trump administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey's largest city to court amid the president's ongoing immigration crackdown and Democrats' efforts to respond. The prosecution is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption. A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka's arrest on other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor. The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word 'Police.' 5 McIver was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials for the Delaney Hall incident. AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene. The complaint alleges that she 'slammed' her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him. The indictment also says she placed her arms around the mayor to try to stop his arrest and says again that she slammed her forearm into and grabbed an agent. Advertisement Democrats including New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, who were with McIver at the detention center that day, have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges. Members of Congress are legally authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill spelling out that authority. McIver, 39, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November. A Newark native, she was president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city's public schools before that.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Live updates: Kilmar Abrego Garcia to appear in Nashville court on human smuggling charges
Dozens of attorneys, protesters and journalists are expected to descend upon the federal courthouse on Church Street this morning as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose deportation became symbolic of President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement policies, faces charges of human smuggling. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in Nashville. During the hearing, Abrego Garcia will enter a plea, and attorneys will argue whether he should remain in detention pretrial. That decision will be left to U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old sheet metal worker from Maryland, was returned to the U.S. from El Salvador June 6 after he was indicted in the U.S District Court in Nashville on one count of conspiracy to transport aliens and one count of unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. He appeared in an after-hours court hearing that day, when he was read the charges against him, media witnesses reported. The Tennessean will have multiple reporters and photographers in the courtroom and at nearby protests, updating this article as developments occur. Check back this morning. More: Read the indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, charged in Tennessee This case is separate from the civil case over Abrego Garcia's deportation. Prosecutors say between 2016 and 2025, Abrego Garcia was part of a conspiracy to illegally transport undocumented migrants from various countries in Central and South America into and within the U.S. They say Abrego Garcia's role was generally to pick up immigrants in the Houston area and drive them to other locations in the U.S. The charges were filed in the Middle District of Tennessee because he was stopped in Cookeville in 2022 driving a Chevrolet Suburban with nine men the indictment suggests were undocumented immigrants. The Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers who pulled him over allowed him to leave, giving him only a warning for driving on an expired license. An hour before the hearing, protesters are expected to march to the Fred D. Thompson Courthouse. The march will be held to 'defend due process, protect vulnerable communities, and expose the dangerous authoritarianism driving these abuses,' a news release from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, which organized the march, said. More protesters are expected to show up directly at the courthouse. A recent fire at the parking garage at the public library branch across from the courthouse will make parking more difficult than usual. Abrego Garcia has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals for the last week since his first court appearance, but it's not publicly known where. The Marshals said they do not release information on the location of pretrial detainees. The Marshals will bring Abrego Garcia to the courthouse before the hearing begins. Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@ This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Live updates: Kilmar Abrego Garcia to appear in Nashville court
New York Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Alina Habba defends charging Rep. McIver over Newark ICE protests
Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba is defending filing felony charges against lefty New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver for the fracas at a Newark ICE detention center — telling The Post that McIver's alleged assault of federal agents was beyond the pale. 'This has nothing to do with congressional oversight, and it has nothing to do with politics. It's about respecting those who risk their lives to keep us safe,' said Habba, who was formerly President Trump's personal lawyer. 'This is not political, it's the law. I didn't create the law, my job is to enforce it.' 6 Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba defended filing felony charges against New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver after a protest at an ICE detention center in Newark on May 9, 2025. AP 6 Police in a scuffle with McIver at Delancey Hall. U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey She added that the charges show that her office is committed to supporting the federal agents who say McIver assaulted them. 'These charges make one thing abundantly clear: this administration will never back down from supporting law enforcement,' Habba said. 'Our commitment is resolute — we back the blue. I fully support congressional oversight, but I will never support violence or interfering with law enforcement.' McIver 'slammed her forearm into the body' of one Homeland Security agent and 'forcibly struck' an ICE agent during a protest at an ICE detention facility in Newark, according to the federal criminal complaint against her. 6 McIver allegedly 'slammed her forearm into the body' of one Homeland Security agent and 'forcibly struck' an ICE agent at the center. U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey 6 Habba said the arrest of McIver was not about politics. U.S District Court for the District of New Jersey The two-count felony charges, filed Monday in federal court in New Jersey, accuse McIver, 38, of using force to interfere with federal agents earlier this month during a protest that was joined by several other Democratic lawmakers. She faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of the charges. McIver has argued that she was using congressional oversight to enter the facility — but Habba, who announced the charges on Monday, said 'no one is above the law' when it comes to assaulting cops. McIver, who has represented New Jersey's 10th Congressional District since last September, slammed the charges as 'purely political' and blamed the ICE agents at the scene for escalating the confrontation. 6 Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also arrested at the detention center, but charges were later dismissed. Robert Mecea She said the charges 'mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,' the congresswoman said in a statement. 'This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. But Habba said she only filed charges after 'efforts to resolve the matter without filing charges failed.' A source familiar with the investigation said hours of yet-to-be-released bodycam footage shows that McIver was 'insanely aggressive, elbowing, shoving, impeding' federal agents. 'She didn't own what she did,' according to the source. 6 Habba at federal court in Newark for Baraka's hearing on May 15, 2025. Photo byInvestigators used bodycam footage, as well as aerial camera stills to show McIver's actions during the melee. They say the images offer proof that she assaulted the federal officers and tried to stop them from arresting Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at the protest. McIver allegedly shouted 'Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!' as they tried to arrest Baraka, who is a top candidate for New Jersey governor in June's Democratic primary. 'McIver slammed her forearm into the body of … a uniformed HSI agent. She also reached out and tried to restrain [the agent] by forcibly grabbing him,' the complaint details. After the mayor was arrested, she allegedly 'forcibly struck' an ICE agent. Baraka, as well as Reps. Robert Menendez Jr. (D-NJ) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) were among those who attempted to barge into the Delaney Hall Detention Center on May 9, demanding the facility's closure. Baraka was arrested at the scene for trespassing and later released, with charges against him dismissed this week. McIver didn't take the chance to avoid charges, the source said, while Baraka 'understood the severity of what was going on.'
Axios
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Federal judge temporarily blocks deportations to Libya
The Trump administration can't immediately deport undocumented immigrants to Libya as it would " clearly violate" an earlier order blocking U.S. officials on sending people to countries they're not citizens of, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday. Why it matters: Sending people to Libya, which a 2023 U.S. State Department report says has "harsh and life-threatening prison conditions," is a sign the Trump administration is stepping up its hardline immigration policy of deporting people to third countries, even in the face of court orders. Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy issued granted the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order"to prevent non-citizen removals to third countries, including but not limited to Libya and Saudia Arabia, without prior written notice and a meaningful opportunity to raise fear-based claims." Among those affected are people from the Philippines, Vietnam and Laos, per a motion, filed in U.S District Court in Massachusetts. They're being set for removal "without any reasonable fear screening, let alone a fifteen-day window to file a motion to reopen with the immigration court to contest any negative reasonable fear determination," the plaintiffs argue. Representatives for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on Wednesday evening. The intrigue: The Tripoli-based government of Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah said in a statement posted on social media it "firmly denies the existence of any agreement or coordination with US authorities regarding the deportation of migrants to Libya."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Winton Hills grocery store firebomber sentenced to prison
The man convicted of firebombing a Winton Hills grocery store in 2023 was sentenced to five and a half years in prison Tuesday. Donald Donatelli pleaded guilty in federal court in Cincinnati to the attack in October of last year. According to court documents, he has never said why he did it. Prosecutors said Donatelli "cased" the Tree Top Grocery on Gwinnett Road on Nov. 26, 2023, entered the store and walked around. Then, about four hours later, he returned, lit a rag hanging out of a bottle filled with gasoline, and smashed in the entryway of the store. The owners scrambled to put out the fire with water bottles they sell in their store, according to court documents. No was injured, but fire investigators determined the blaze caused $330,000 in damage. The incident was filmed on Snapchat by his co-defendant Angela Schweitzer. Schweitzer pleaded guilty to related charges in January. She has not yet been sentenced. Prosecutors said Donatelli tried to get Schweitzer to delete the video and attempted to create an alibi for himself. It was an anonymous tip that led investigators to Donatelli who was arrested in Clermont County following the fire on charges of theft and receiving stolen property. "While there is no excuse for such acts, the defendant has never offered an explanation for his firebomb attack," prosecutors wrote in court documents. "The victims have repeatedly asked why they were targeted for such brutality." Prosecutors said Donatelli has shown no remorse for the attack. U.S District Court Judge Matthew W. McFarland ordered that Donatelli's sentence begin the completion his sentence for the offenses in Clermont County. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man convicted in Winton Hills grocery firebombing sentenced to prison
