Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Files Lawsuit Over Arrest At ICE Detention Facility
Last month, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for joining protestors outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in New Jersey. The case against Baraka was dropped fairly quickly, but the mayor has filed a lawsuit against the U.S Attorney who filed the charges.
AP News reports Baraka’s lawsuit against New Jersey’s interim U.S Attorney Alina Habba seeks damages for “false arrest and malicious prosecution.” Habba was President Trump’s personal attorney and was appointed to the AG position in March. Ricky Patel, the Homeland Security Investigations agent in charge in Newark, was also named in the suit. Baraka is currently campaigning in a packed primary race to become the Democratic nominee for New Jersey governor and the charges were filed as early voting begins ahead of the June 6 primary.
From AP News:
The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center has had dramatic fallout. It began on May 9 when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress — Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman — who went to the facility for an oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump’s immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry.
Video from the event showed him walking from the facility side of the fence to the street side, where other people had been protesting, and then uniformed officials came to arrest him. As they did, people could be heard in the video saying to protect the mayor. The video shows a crowd forming and pushing as officials led off a handcuffed Baraka.
Habba initially charged Baraka with trespass to justify the arrest, but quickly moved to dismiss the charges, which resulted in the judge who was overseeing the initial charges throwing a significant amount of shade at Habba, issuing an unusually strong rebuke.
“Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,” Judge André M. Espinosa, said in court documents. “An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool…it is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences, and it should only be undertaken after a thorough and dispassionate evaluation of credible evidence.”
Call me a cynic, but I don’t think anyone in the Trump administration is capable of any action that could be labeled “thorough” and “dispassionate.”
Today I filed a federal lawsuit against Alina Habba and DHS Agent Ricky Patel for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation. They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited insid
. No one is above the law.— Ras J. Baraka (@rasjbaraka) June 3, 2025
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“This is not about revenge,” Baraka said during a news conference announcing the charges. “Ultimately, it’s about them taking accountability for what they did.”
For her part, Habba has been dismissive of Baraka’s legal action. “My advice to the mayor-feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey,” she wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). It’s actually insane that she’s moving with this energy despite having been absolutely read for filth by a federal judge over her handling of this situation.
While his arrest at the protest thrust Baraka into the national spotlight, this was not his first time standing against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies. Baraka filed a lawsuit against the Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which owns Delaney Hall, after they struck a 15-year contract valued at $1 billion with the Trump administration to provide detention facilities for ICE.
We can’t say for certain that the arrest and charges against Baraka were retaliatory for his ongoing battle against the administration’s immigration policy, but it wouldn’t be off-brand for Trump. In April, a federal judge blocked an executive order issued by the president that would’ve crippled one of the law firms who represented clients that filed cases against Trump.
It’s crazy how everyone in the Trump orbit is so concerned about the rule of law until it comes to the Dollar Store authoritarian they’re working for.
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