NEWARK, NJ — Rep. LaMonica McIver is 33 weeks pregnant, running for reelection and fighting federal charges that could carry a combined maximum sentence of 17 years.
Now she is telling her story about what happened at Delaney Hall and how it’s all a ruse against her because she’s an outspoken black Democrat female, and less about how she attacked a federal agent.
The New Jersey Democrat wrote in an ELLE essay published Thursday that she refused to let the criminal case derail her final opportunity to have another child through in vitro fertilization. While she may have that child, she might not have the opportunity to raise it.
She could be facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted for assaulting federal agents during a violent anti-ICE protest at Delaney Hall.
“I refuse to let them take my joy or my future,” McIver wrote.
The deeply personal essay traced her struggle with fibroids, four surgeries, damaged fallopian tubes and secondary infertility while she moved from local government into Congress.
Her first IVF attempt failed.
McIver and her husband later decided to use their remaining embryo despite the criminal case, another election campaign and the possibility of a federal prison sentence hanging over her.
This attempt worked.
McIver, 40, said she is due in October and praying for a healthy baby while balancing court appearances, congressional votes, town halls and legal meetings.
The charges remain serious.
Federal prosecutors accuse McIver of forcibly assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officers during a chaotic May 9, 2025, confrontation outside Delaney Hall in Newark.
McIver denies criminal wrongdoing although the entire incident was captured on multiple cameras at the scene.
The clash began while McIver and fellow New Jersey Reps. Rob Menendez and Bonnie Watson Coleman were conducting a legally authorized congressional inspection of the immigration detention facility.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka later arrived.
Federal agents ordered Baraka to leave the secured area and moved to arrest him after he exited, triggering a physical scrum involving officers, elected officials, staff members and protesters.
Prosecutors say McIver crossed the line.
The indictment alleges that she “slammed her forearm” into one federal officer, forcibly grabbed him and later struck a second officer with both forearms while returning to the secured area.
McIver calls the prosecution political retaliation.
It was all Donald Trump’s fault.
She argues that the Trump administration created the confrontation and then targeted her for performing congressional oversight of an ICE detention center inside her district.
“I was facing 17 years in federal prison for daring to do my job and holding the Trump administration accountable,” McIver wrote in ELLE.
She has pleaded not guilty.
McIver said she rejected a plea agreement and expects her legal defense to cost about $1 million because members of Congress cannot accept free legal representation.
The essay went far beyond court.
McIver described years of pain, heavy bleeding and repeated surgeries caused by fibroids, a condition she said disproportionately affects women of color.
Doctors later found damage to her fallopian tubes.
IVF became her only option for having another child, and McIver said partial insurance coverage made treatment possible when many families cannot afford it.
Her first embryo transfer came in 2022.
That pregnancy attempt failed while McIver was serving in Newark government and campaigning for reelection, leaving one embryo for a final try years later.
Then came the indictment.
McIver said she and her husband decided that fear of the prosecution could not dictate whether they expanded their family.
“We are all not just one thing that happens to us — one job, one circumstance, or one unfair thing,” she wrote.
The pregnancy announcement triggered a brutal response online.
Some users focused on the criminal allegations, writing “Don’t punch cops,” “No one is above the law” and “She brought it all on herself.”
Others went much further.
Replies to McIver’s post included racist attacks against Black women, a racial slur, misogynistic insults and crude comments about her husband, pregnancy and unborn child.
One critic said pregnancy should make no difference.
Another commenter accused McIver of seeking sympathy, while several argued that her status as a member of Congress should expose her to harsher punishment.
There was pushback, too.
One user condemned the hostile responses and said she could not wait for “MAGA bots” to retreat, reflecting the bitter political split surrounding McIver’s prosecution.
The case has divided elected officials.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill publicly backed McIver after a federal appeals court ruling, accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the Justice Department against a member of Congress.
Federal judges rejected much of McIver’s argument.
A divided Third Circuit panel ruled Aug. 26 that the physical conduct alleged in the first two counts was not legislative activity protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause.
Two counts may proceed.
The appeals court sent the broader third count back to the trial judge for additional review because it could include conduct connected to McIver’s protected oversight work.
No jury has found her guilty.
The three-count indictment carries maximum penalties of eight years on each of two felony counts and one year on the remaining misdemeanor count.
