Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey is being charged with assault over a clash with law enforcement officers outside an immigration detention center earlier this month.
The charges stem from an incident on May 9, when McIver visited Delaney Hall, a federal immigration detention facility in Newark, to “conduct a congressional oversight inspection” and intervened when law enforcement officers were arresting Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, according to court documents filed on Monday. The filing alleges that McIver “slammed her forearm into the body” of a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent and pushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer.
Delaney Hall was recently reopened, and has been the site of protests over the Trump Administration’s mass deportation efforts.
The interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, who was previously one of Trump’s personal attorneys, announced in a post on X on Monday that her office had agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor trespassing charge against Baraka, but was moving forward with the charges against McIver.
Here’s what to know about the charges.
What are the charges against McIver?
According to court documents, McIver is facing two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding an HSI agent and an ICE officer.
“That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties,” Habba said in her post on X. “No one is above the law—politicians or otherwise. It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.”
McIver denounced the charges in a statement, saying that she and her colleagues who visited Delaney Hall went “to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees” and “were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before.”
“Our visit should have been peaceful and short,” McIver said in her statement. “Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.”
“The charges against me are purely political—they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she continued. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court.”
What potential penalties is she facing?
According to the U.S. Code, the charge of assaulting, resisting, and impeding certain officers or employees carries a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in prison.
People convicted of the charge are usually sentenced following federal guidelines that most often result in a lesser punishment, however.
Could she be tried while serving in Congress?
Yes. Prosecutors can bring federal criminal charges against sitting members of Congress, though they have only rarely done so for allegations other than fraud or corruption.
In a recent example of a sitting lawmaker being tried, then-Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, faced trial last year over his involvement in an international bribery scheme. Menendez was ultimately found guilty, and resigned from the Senate following his conviction.
The post What to Know About the Assault Charges Against Rep. LaMonica McIver appeared first on TIME.
