🔥 Protest Erupts, Mayor Detained
According to witnesses and video reviewed by USA Herald, tensions exploded when Baraka attempted to join a facility tour alongside three Democratic members of Congress—Reps. Robert Menendez Jr., LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman. When denied entry by federal agents who cited his non-congressional status, a shouting match ensued.
“He stepped back outside the secure area,” said Viri Martinez, an organizer with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “There was yelling and pushing,” she said. “Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”
In a statement, The Department of Homeland Security said that the lawmakers had not asked for a tour of the facility. The department further stated that as a bus carrying detainees was entering the facility, “a group of protestors, including two members of the U.S. House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”
“This was beyond a bizarre political stunt,” said Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “It jeopardized our agents and the detainees.”
“Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility,” McLaughlin added.
Video shows agents warning Baraka that an arrest was imminent—even after he returned to the public side of the gate. “I’m not on their property,” he told one agent. “They can’t come out on the street and arrest me.”
Moments later, ICE agents in face coverings stormed the crowd, placing Baraka in handcuffs as protesters shouted “Shame!”
