An aide for “Ice Barbie” Kristi Noem threatened to send Department of Homeland Security goons to arrest three Democratic members of Congress who tried to tour an ICE detention facility.
Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, said on CNN podcast First of All that there exists “body-camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers.” She said the representatives were “body-slamming” the officials.
Calling the lawmakers’ purported actions “disgusting,” McLaughlin said that her agency will release the footage soon.
“The American people should know the facts,” she said in a teased clip of the podcast.
The Department of Homeland Security and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka tell VERY different stories about his arrest. #CNN#FirstofAll pic.twitter.com/N2JxHLCORL
— Victor Blackwell CNN (@VictorBlackwell) May 10, 2025
Asked by host Victor Blackwell whether the representatives were going to be arrested, McLaughlin said, “This is an ongoing investigation, and that is definitely on the table.”
The three Congress members in question are New Jersey Democratic Reps. Rob Menendez, Bonnie Watson Coleman, and LaMonica McIver. The trio attempted to tour an ICE detention facility in their state on Friday and began to protest when they were not allowed in.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was trying to join the representatives in their protest at Delaney Hall Detention Center, was arrested by ICE officers. He was released later on Friday night.
Baraka, who was also interviewed for the CNN podcast, pushed back on McLaughlin’s claim that the representatives assaulted ICE officers.
“None of those people body-slammed any officer,” he said, pointing out that Watson Coleman is 80 years old.
The DHS, ICE, and three Congress members did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
In posts on X soon after the Thursday afternoon incident, McLaughlin claimed that the Congress members “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”
“Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities,” she added. “Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.”
Watson Coleman pushed back on McLaughlin’s post. She wrote that she and her fellow representatives were not attempting to “storm” the facility, arguing that they were trying to exercise their “oversight authority” as lawmakers.
McIver told reporters that the group of Democrats was actually “roughed up” by ICE officers, adding, “If they can treat members of Congress like that, imagine how they treat people on the streets.”
Democrats were incensed by Baraka’s arrest, which came after he complied with an order to leave a fenced-off area.
New Jersey officials—including Gov. Phil Murphy, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Sen. Andy Kim, and Sen. Cory Booker—all published statements expressing their outrage and calling for Baraka’s release.
“This incident is disturbing, unnecessary and indicative of tactics that are undermining the safety and security of our communities, not adding to it,” Booker said. “Law enforcement officers should have de-escalated this situation.”
After being held in an ICE office for several hours, Baraka was charged with misdemeanor federal trespassing and released.
In an appearance on MSNBC soon after his release, the mayor called the arrest “targeted.” He said that he was initially allowed onto the property. After an hour there, he was asked to leave. Although he said that he would leave, he was quickly detained.
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