--- title: What to Know About the Charges Against Rep. LaMonica McIver description: Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault over a clash with officers outside an immigration detention center earlier this month. canonical: https://time.com/7287270/rep-lamonica-mciver-assault-charges/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-05-20T22:09:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:04.095Z article:section: Politics og:title: What to Know About the Charges Against Rep. LaMonica McIver og:description: Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault over a clash with officers outside an immigration detention center. og:url: https://time.com/7287270/rep-lamonica-mciver-assault-charges/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e75e1da07b970b/6998c6d5c8dcb4235bb5026e/LaMonica-McIver-Charges.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Congressional Progressive Caucus on Musk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About the Charges Against Rep. LaMonica McIver twitter:description: Rep. LaMonica McIver is being charged with assault over a clash with officers outside an immigration detention center. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2e75e1da07b970b/6998c6d5c8dcb4235bb5026e/LaMonica-McIver-Charges.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About the Assault Charges Against Rep. LaMonica McIver > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Newark Mayor Sues New Jersey's Top Federal Prosecutor After Arrest at Immigration Detention Site [Watch (HLS stream): Newark Mayor Sues New Jersey's Top Federal Prosecutor After Arrest at Immigration Detention Site](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oG2QirrZ.m3u8) (1:35)  _Published 2025-06-03. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility, saying the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite._ by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 20, 2025 10:09 PM UTC  Rep. LaMonica McIver speaks during a news conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center to oppose Elon Musk gaining access to the Treasury Department's federal payment system, on Feb. 6, 2025. Rep. LaMonica McIver speaks during a news conference with the Congressional Progressive Caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center to oppose Elon Musk gaining access to the Treasury Department's federal payment system, on Feb. 6, 2025. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call, Inc./The Associated Press by [Chantelle Lee](https://time.com/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter May 20, 2025 10:09 PM UTC Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey is being charged with assault over a clash with law enforcement officers outside an immigration detention center earlier this month. The charges stem from an incident on May 9, when McIver visited Delaney Hall, a federal immigration detention facility in Newark, to “conduct a congressional oversight inspection” and intervened when law enforcement officers were arresting Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, according to court documents [filed](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.569115/gov.uscourts.njd.569115.1.0.pdf) on Monday. The filing alleges that McIver “slammed her forearm into the body” of a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agent and pushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officer. Delaney Hall was recently reopened, and has been the [site of protests](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/nyregion/newark-migrants-ras-baraka-ice.html) over the Trump Administration’s mass deportation efforts. The interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, who was previously one of Trump’s personal attorneys, [announced](https://x.com/USAttyHabba/status/1924610971919622210/photo/1) in a post on X on Monday that her office had agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor trespassing charge against Baraka, but was moving forward with the charges against McIver. Here’s what to know about the charges. ## **What are the charges against McIver?** According to court documents, McIver is facing two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding an HSI agent and an ICE officer. “That conduct cannot be overlooked by the chief federal law enforcement official in the State of New Jersey, and it is my Constitutional obligation to ensure that our federal law enforcement is protected when executing their duties,” Habba said in her post on X. “No one is above the law—politicians or otherwise. It is the job of this office to uphold justice impartially, regardless of who you are. Now we will let the justice system work.” McIver denounced the charges in a [statement](https://mciver.house.gov/media/press-releases/mciver-issues-statement-charges), saying that she and her colleagues who visited Delaney Hall went “to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees” and “were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before.” “Our visit should have been peaceful and short,” McIver said in her statement. “Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.” “The charges against me are purely political—they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she continued. “This administration will never stop me from working for the people in our district and standing up for what is right. I am thankful for the outpouring of support I have received and I look forward to the truth being laid out clearly in court.” ## **What potential penalties is she facing?** According to the [U.S. Code](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/111), the charge of assaulting, resisting, and impeding certain officers or employees carries a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in prison. People convicted of the charge are usually sentenced following federal guidelines that [most often result in a lesser punishment](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/20/lamonica-iver-assault-charge-00358400), however. ## **Could she be tried while serving in Congress?** Yes. Prosecutors can bring federal criminal charges against sitting members of Congress, though they have only rarely done so for allegations other than fraud or corruption. In a recent example of a sitting lawmaker being tried, then-Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, faced trial last year over his involvement in an international bribery scheme. Menendez was ultimately found guilty, and resigned from the Senate following his conviction. ## Transcript My firm filed a lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka against Alina Habba, the interim United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and Ricky Patel, the head of investigations for the Department of Homeland Security. Individually, the complaint charges that Habba and Patel, acting outside their authority as government officials, violated Mayor Baraka's constitutional rights by falsely arresting him and maliciously prosecuting him for events that took place at Delaney Hall in Newark on May 9th. I just want to say this is not about revenge or not about me going after individuals because I think they've wronged me specifically. Ultimately, I think this is about them taking accountability for what has what has happened to me. When people see me in cuffs, they automatically believe I did something wrong, I was guilty. Uh, you know, I deserved to be in jail. That they caught me. Finally, that all this other kind of stuff. Foolishness. And the reality is, I didn't do anything. I went down there for a press conference. I was invited inside of a gate. People approached me. They were very loud and abusive to me. I left the gate. Finally, after they told me to get out, I walked out of the gate. They allowed me to walk out of the gate. I walked out of the gate. They made a decision to change their mind based on a call or whomever they got it from, and they ran out of the gate and arrested me there. Right. 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