It took a weekend, but the shoe finally dropped on LaMonica McIver … even if it got picked up for Ras Baraka. After nearly inciting a riot in front of an ICE facility in Newark, Rep. McIver will now face felony charges after reportedly refusing a deal with US Attorney Alina Habba:
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) will face criminal charges for her alleged actions during a confrontation with law enforcement outside a Newark immigration detention center earlier this month.
“Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement,” acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba announced Monday.
McIver was among several Democratic lawmakers involved in a chaotic scene that unfolded outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center on May 9, which resulted in the arrest of Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for allegedly trespassing on the facility that contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mayor Baraka, on the other hand, has had his charges dropped:
Habba, who previously served as President Trump’s personal lawyer, noted in her announcement that the trespass charges against Baraka would be dismissed.
“After extensive consideration, we have agreed to dismiss Mayor Baraka’s misdemeanor charge of trespass for the sake of moving forward,” she said.
That seems rather curious. Baraka touched off this sequence of events by showing up without an appointment — and with dozens of supporters and media in tow — demanding to “inspect” the ICE facility to determine whether the detainees were being treated humanely. Baraka claimed that he had jurisdiction and authority to do so as mayor, which is utter nonsense; mayors can’t just show up at a facility and inspect on demand any more than the police can. (Fire marshals have more authority; see addendum below.) That’s especially true when the facility is run by the federal government, which has full jurisdiction through the Supremacy Clause.
So why did Baraka get his charges dropped? Likely, Baraka didn’t batter and impede law-enforcement officers. McIver certainly did, as I pointed out on Friday. In the video below, McIver is wearing a red jacket and is easy to track. She and the other House Democrats try linking arms to prevent ICE officers from detaining at least one of them, but McIver clearly strikes LEOs at least twice:
That would be two felony counts in any jurisdiction that chose to charge these as crimes. In federal law, it carries the potential for eight years in prison on each count charged:
Does that qualify as obstruction and battery? YMMV, but in fact, 18 USC 111 doesn’t even require physical contact to prosecute this circumstance as a felony. Just the attempt to obstruct Baraka’s arrest through intimidation could get a convicted defendant up to eight years in prison:
(a)In General.—Whoever—
(1) forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any person designated in section 1114 of this title while engaged in or on account of the performance of official duties; or(2) forcibly assaults or intimidates any person who formerly served as a person designated in section 1114 on account of the performance of official duties during such person’s term of service,shall, where the acts in violation of this section constitute only simple assault, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both, and where such acts involve physical contact with the victim of that assault or the intent to commit another felony, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both.
Now, the last time we saw a mob protest federal policy at a federal facility and try to (a) break into the facility and (b) assault and batter LEOs was January 6. What happened to those people? The FBI tracked them for years and threw the book at them. No one is above the law, right?
Not according to Democrat caucus leader Hakeem Jeffries:
“The proceeding initiated by the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democratic leaders said in a statement Monday night. “House Democrats will not be intimidated by the Trump administration. Not today. Not ever.”
Prosecutions for thee but not for we!
This is of the same entitled piece as the audio in the above clip, where the House Democrats — McIver included — keep telling law-enforcement officers to back off because they are “federal officials.” Federal officials are not allowed to break the law, and LEOs can certainly direct and detain them when they breach the peace. These three House Dems weren’t serving as a “check and balance” on anything that day. Had they wanted to inspect the facility, they could have arranged a tour with DHS for that purpose. Just like mayors, members of Congress don’t get allowed into secure facilities simply by showing up to the front door and demanding entry.
In other words, this isn’t legislative business; it’s a media stunt. The presence of Baraka makes that even more clear, since Baraka has no connection at all to Congress. And yet Fox News reporter Chad Pergram still cites the Speech or Debate Clause as a potential flashpoint for prosecution and on Capitol Hill:
The arrest will likely spark a firestorm on Capitol Hill. Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution generally shields lawmakers from charges – so long they as they are conducting official Congressional business. The Founders were mindful of how politically-motivated arrests could undercut the work of Congress. So, they crafted what’s known as the “Speech or Debate” clause to inoculate lawmakers when conducting business.
“They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place,” reads the provision.
Ahem. The charges under 18 USC 111 are felonies, one of the exceptions explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, as well as “breach of peace.” Watch the video again; that seems clearly to be a breach of peace by any definition. Even if one is inclined to separate this clause into Arrest and Speech or Debate clauses, neither applies. The latter part of the clause prohibits law enforcement from intruding on speech and debate in Congress, as part of the separation-of-powers doctrine. It doesn’t apply to riots in the streets of Newark, and is not a license for impunity to be used by reckless members of Congress.
As for complaints that the prosecutions are political, well, welcome to the world Democrats created! They have spent the last four years attempting to imprison Donald Trump and his aides at the state and federal levels over nonsense criminal theories regarding NDA payments and (admittedly dumb) election challenges. Democrats used the FACE Act to literally turn a sidewalk argument that local police shrugged off into a federal case complete with an armed raid on a peaceful young family, and threw a number of opponents of their abortion-industry allies in prison for years. Democrats spent the last four years screaming about an “insurrection” on January 6 and used the rioters’ assaults on law enforcement officers as justification for the commitment of massive amounts of resources to track down people whose only crime was to be present at the riot.
Welcome to your own world, Democrats. Maybe you should consider the longer term consequences more fully before changing the rules next time.
Addendum: Fire marshals issue and can revoke occupancy permits for safety purposes, but it’s not clear that they have that kind of authority over federal facilities either. Other facilities can try to refuse entry to a fire marshal, but be prepared to have your facility padlocked until you get an inspection completed. Mayors, on the other hand, can be refused entry without any direct legal consequence at all. Also, here’s a joke left over from my days in the alarm industry: What’s the difference between God and a fire marshal? God doesn’t think He’s a fire marshal.
