The Mayor of New Jersey filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s federal prosecutors and his close allies after being arrested in protest outside the Immigration Detention Center.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Mayor Rus Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, accused Attorney Alina Haba of “exposed him to false arrests and malicious prosecution.”
The complaint also named Ricky Patel, a special agent in the Department of Homeland Security’s Investigation Force, as the co-defendant.
“The result of this false arrest,” the lawsuit alleges Mayor Baraka “has suffered severe reputational damage, emotional distress and other damages.”
The lawsuit is the latest fallout from the May 9 protest outside Delaney Hall, a privately run immigration detention facility in Newark.
Baraka, a longtime critic of the facility, joined three U.S. House Democrats for a tour of the 1,000-bed detention center when protesters gathered outside the gates.
The lawsuit alleges that members of the GEO Group, which owns the facility, have allowed Baraka to enter the wire gate of Delaney Hall. However, when he enters, Patel says he ordered him to come out again about the threat of arrest.
Baraka complied, but a few minutes later he was standing outside the gate with the protesters, so Homeland Security agents surrounded the mayor and took him away in handcuffs.
The complaint alleges Patel ordered agents to “fall down (the mayor)” and “pushed, pushed, and assaulted” the mayor’s security team before arresting him. Baraka denied trespassing into the Delaney Hall property.
“They abused their power to arrest me violently in Delaney Hall despite being invited inside,” Baraka wrote on social media Tuesday. “No one is beyond the law.”
Haba initially filed trespass charges against Baraka for his actions during the protest. But by May 19, she had moved to dismiss the charges, urging responsibilities from judges overseeing the lawsuit.
“Your role is not to secure your beliefs at all costs, to fulfill the public’s cry, or to advance the political agenda,” Judge Andre Espinosa told representatives from the office of Haba.
“The hastily arrest of Newark Mayor Las Baraka suggests a worrying failure by your office following the rapid rejection of these trespasses just 13 days later,” Espinosa added.
“Arrests of public figures in particular are not preliminary investigative tools. They are serious actions that have serious reputations and personal consequences and should only be done after a thorough and calm assessment of credible evidence.”
As she announced she was seeking terrorism charges, Haba announced she would pursue criminal charges against Lamonica McQuiver, a member of the US Congress who was also a protest at Delaney Hall.
Haba accused McQuiver of assaulting law enforcement during Baraka’s arrest. The case is ongoing. However, Representative McQuiver called the charges against her “purely political” and she Published a statement On Tuesday, in support of Baraka’s lawsuit.
“The way Mayor Baraka was treated at Delaney Hall was outrageous,” the statement reads. “It’s not clear that there was no legal or de facto basis to arrest or prosecute him. It’s embarrassing to a government that is political in our judicial system.”
Habba himself gets heavier as he is led to Baraka’s lawsuit, suggesting that the mayor’s complaint is a waste of time.
“He plans to sue the Fed,” Habba wrote on social media on Monday. “My advice to the mayor – join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Use your time much better for the great citizens of New Jersey.”
Haba was part of Trump’s personal legal team before joining the administration following his second inauguration in January.
Trump has pledged to pursue a “massive deportation” policy during his second term as president, but his goal violates logistical issues, including the lack of detention space. His administration awarded Delaney Hall a 15-year contract to deal with the growing demand for beds, and the facility opened this May.
But Baraka claims that Delaney Hall is unable to receive appropriate local permits and is visible in the immigration centre protests. The GEO Group refuses to violate permission.
Critics, particularly on the left, have long criticised the Trump administration for retaliation against those opposed to the president’s signature policies, including the crackdown on immigration.
For example, Tuesday’s lawsuit accused Haba of slandering Baraka and desacrificing her in her efforts to detain and claim trespass.
“By approving and/or dictating Mayor Baraka’s arrest without appropriate legal basis, Defendant Haba had acted on political grounds and fulfilling her stated goal of “making New Jersey red,” the lawsuit alleges.
The complaint further alleges that other members of the Trump administration participated in “facilitating false and defamatory narratives.”
Baraka is running as a Democratic candidate in November this year in the race to become governor of New Jersey. His lawsuit alleges that the arrest and subsequent trespassing accusations were designed to “politically undermine him.”
Last month, Trump approved one of Baraka’s Republican rivals, businessman and former state representative Jack Chatterellee for the governor.