Rep. McIver Charged With Assault Over Clash Outside Newark ICE Center

The Department of Justice announced on Monday it had charged a New Jersey congresswoman with assaulting federal agents during a clash outside a new immigration detention center in Newark and was dropping a trespass charge against the city’s mayor that emerged from the same episode.

Alina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, disclosed the move in a post on X, saying that the congresswoman, LaMonica McIver, had been charged “for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement” when she visited the detention center with two other Democratic members of Congress from New Jersey on May 9.

“No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise,” Ms. Habba said in a statement. “It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.”

She added that she had sought a resolution without bringing criminal charges, but that Ms. McIver had declined.

In a statement on Monday, Ms. McIver blamed federal law enforcement for instigating the clash, saying that “ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation.”

“The charges against me are purely political — they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she said.