The leading GOP candidates for N.J. governor all support the Trump administration’s charges against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver
Democrats say Alina Habba's charges against the member of Congress are politically motivated but the GOP candidates for governor support them.
As Democratic lawmakers allege that President Donald Trump is weaponizing the justice system in New Jersey, the leading Republican candidates for governor are rallying behind his administration‘s decision to charge Democratic U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver with assault over a clash with ICE agents earlier this month.
Video footage of the May 9 incident outside Delaney Hall, a new federal immigration detention center in Newark, shows McIver tussling with federal law enforcement officers before they arrested Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside the facility after he wanted to join members of Congress on an oversight tour.
Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, on Monday dropped trespassing charges against Baraka, a progressive gubernatorial candidate, and moved ahead with charges against McIver, nearly two weeks after the incident. Habba, a former civil lawyer for Trump, charged the Democratic member of Congress with two federal counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding an officer.
The criminal complaint accuses McIver, whose district includes Newark, of participating in a “human shield” to prevent Baraka’s arrest and says she slammed her forearm into, grabbed, and pushed officers. Video footage shows McIver with her arms around Baraka saying, “Don’t touch us.”
It is unclear whether contact between McIver’s elbow and an officer was intentional or a result of chaos, according to the Associated Press.
McIver called the charges “purely political” and said they “mischaracterize and distort” her actions and “are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight.”
New Jersey Democrats including Baraka, Gov. Phil Murphy, and Attorney General Matt Platkin have supported her, as have Democratic leaders in the U.S. House, who said McIver and her colleagues were “aggressively mistreated by illegally masked individuals,” referring to some of the federal agents.
Former Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli, former radio host Bill Spadea, and State Sen. Jon Bramnick, the three leading Republicans running for governor, all stood by Habba’s charges against McIver during a gubernatorial debate Tuesday night.
Bramnick said while he does not like the idea of elected officials being arrested, McIver was in the wrong for touching a police officer.
Ciattarelli, whom Trump has endorsed, said he also believes that she “laid her hands on another person,” based on video of the incident, and that the charges are legitimate.
Spadea went further to accuse her of hitting a police officer, and said he hopes “she is charged to the full extent of the law and serves whatever punishment is appropriate.”
Spadea also said it was “too bad” that Baraka’s charges were dropped.
“The Democrat Party is so radical in their leadership now this might actually catapult him to the nomination, God willing,” Spadea added. Republicans view Baraka as the ideal competitor for the general election because he is more progressive than his counterparts.
Ciattarelli and Spadea have been trying to show off their allegiance to Trump throughout the race, and while Bramnick is openly critical of the president, he has also said he will stand by him when he agrees with him.
When asked about McIver’s arrest, Trump told reporters on Tuesday that “the days of woke are over.”
“That woman, I have no idea who she is. That woman was out of control,” Trump said about the U.S. representative.
Spadea, on the debate stage Tuesday after Trump spoke about McIver’s charges, said he wants to see charges against Democratic mayors in the state whom he accused of protecting undocumented immigrants and “blocking the enforcement of the law” through the state’s so-called sanctuary policy.
» READ MORE: New Jersey's sanctuary status is at risk in the governor race
The state directive (which could be removed by the next governor’s administration) limits New Jersey’s involvement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the stated purpose of strengthening trust with local law enforcement so immigrants feel safe reporting crimes. It largely prohibits New Jersey law enforcement from helping ICE but does not prevent ICE from carrying out deportations. Baraka and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a Democrat who is also running for governor, both identify their cities as sanctuary cities.
Ciattarelli said that members of Congress “should be dealt with” by their colleagues in Washington if they “set up their visit” to the immigration facility “to benefit” Baraka’s campaign, suggesting that the joint oversight visit could have been a political stunt.
» READ MORE: Ras Baraka’s arrest thrust him into the national spotlight as voters make up their mind in the N.J. governor’s race
Bramnick, who has taken a more moderate approach throughout his campaign, chose a different tone, saying that the ordeal is representative of the wrong direction for the country.
“I can tell you it’s pretty sad when we get to the point where our society is so divided that political leaders are being arrested and it’s us vs. them once again,” he said. “This is a dangerous, dangerous foreshadowing of the future of our country.”
Baraka said Tuesday that Trump’s comments show the charges against McIver are about “political retribution” against those who do not support Trump’s policies.
“Saying ‘woke’ along with criminal charges at the same time really kind of devalues the whole process in the first place, and it really speaks to this kind of authoritarianism that we’re experiencing in this country right now,” Baraka said on MSNBC.