Newark, NJ –New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy voiced strong support for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka following the mayor’s release from federal custody late Friday evening.
Murphy called his arrest earlier “unjust” and asserted that Baraka was innocent.
“Relieved to see Mayor Baraka released from federal custody, but never should have been detained in the first place,” the governor said.
The statement, posted on X by the governor, came after Baraka was arrested outside Delaney Hall, a recently reopened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, during a protest that included three Democratic members of Congress.
Baraka, a Democratic candidate for governor in the 2025 New Jersey primary, was charged with a single misdemeanor count of trespassing after attempting to join U.S. Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez in what they described as an oversight visit to the facility.
In multiple videos released after the incident, McIver was seen assaulting federal officers. She has not been charged.
The lawmakers were exercising their congressional authority to inspect the 1,000-bed detention center, operated by the private prison company Geo Group under a 15-year contract with ICE. Baraka, however, was denied entry, leading to a confrontation with federal agents.
According to interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, a former attorney for President Donald Trump, Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself” from the facility. Habba emphasized on X that “no one is above the law,” framing the arrest as a response to Baraka’s alleged refusal to comply with federal directives.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) further claimed that a group of protesters, including the congressional delegation, “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility,” a characterization disputed by the lawmakers and Baraka.
Video footage and witness accounts paint a contentious scene. Baraka was initially allowed through a security gate but was told he could not join the congressional tour because he was not a member of Congress.
After exiting to the public side of the gate, he was approached by ICE agents.
A video shared with The Associated Press captures Baraka responding to a warning about potential arrest, saying, “I’m not on their property. They can’t come out on the street and arrest me.”
Moments later, agents surrounded him, and he was placed in handcuffs amid protests from supporters chanting “Shame!” and “Let the mayor go!”
The congressional delegation also condemned the arrest. Representative McIver, who witnessed the incident, insisted that Baraka “did nothing wrong” and had already left the facility’s property when apprehended. Representative Menendez described the deployment of over 20 armed ICE officers as “an act of intimidation” aimed not only at Baraka but at the lawmakers and onlookers.
Representative Watson Coleman refuted DHS’s claim of storming the facility, stating on X that the group was exercising legal oversight and that the agency’s press release misrepresented the facts, even miscounting the number of representatives present.