Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that they had arrested a man who earlier this week brought a bat to the office of Alina Habba, the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey.
The man, Keith Michael Lisa, 51, was taken into federal custody on Friday night, two days after he appeared outside Ms. Habba’s Newark office, according to a spokeswoman for the F.B.I.
He was charged with depredation of federal property, as well as possession of a dangerous weapon in a federal facility. It is possible that the latter crime may be charged as an attempted crime, as Mr. Lisa arrived with the bat but did not bring it inside the building.
The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced the arrest in a social media post on Saturday, thanking a slate of federal agencies who had assisted her office. “No one will get away with threatening or intimidating our great US Attorneys or the destruction of their offices,” she wrote.
The aggression with which the Justice Department pursued Mr. Lisa was somewhat unusual, given that no evidence that he threatened Ms. Habba specifically has been publicly released. Ms. Bondi posted on social media about the case twice, and her deputy, Todd Blanche, also acknowledged it. The F.B.I. released a wanted poster for Mr. Lisa on Friday evening, offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to his arrest.
The episode began on Wednesday evening when Mr. Lisa arrived with a bat at the Peter W. Rodino Jr. Federal Building, which houses Ms. Habba’s office. Mr. Lisa was first turned away by security because of the bat, according to the F.B.I. notice for his arrest, but he returned without it and was able to enter.
From there, Mr. Lisa went to the floor where Ms. Habba’s offices were and began to damage government property, the F.B.I. said. It was unclear whether he had been targeting Ms. Habba or if he had made specific threats against her.
But the episode brought to mind a series of recent attacks on prominent political figures, including two attempted assassinations against President Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign and the killing of a Minnesota state representative, Melissa Hortman, and her husband in June.
Mr. Lisa was born in California and has ties to New York City and Mahwah, N.J., according to the F.B.I.
The intrusion at Ms. Habba’s office was not Mr. Lisa’s first brush with law enforcement. He has received multiple tickets for driving and traffic offenses in New Jersey dating back to 2006, according to court documents.
The Rodino building in Newark is also home to a federal immigration court, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, a Citizenship and Immigration Services office and a Social Security office. Upon entering the building, visitors do not need to specify where they are going.
Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully contributed reporting.
Maia Coleman is a reporter for The Times covering the New York Police Department and criminal justice in the New York area.
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