Politics
Bodycam Footage Appears To Show Dem Lawmaker Assaulting Federal Agent
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) appears to have elbowed and body-slammed a federal agent while storming an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility earlier this week.
Lawmakers LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez allegedly stormed the Delaney Hall Detention Center, along with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, leading to the mayor’s arrest on trespassing charges.
Footage shows McIver repeatedly shoving and elbowing a federal agent while yelling “I touch whoever I want mother***er!” The Democrat lawmaker also threatened to ruin the careers of all ICE agents who refused to allow the violent group to “inspect” the facility.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin noted Saturday that an everyday U.S. citizen would be facing serious criminal charges if they engaged in the conduct McIver did. “If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that’s housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested,” McLaughlin told Fox News.
“Just because you are a member of Congress or just because you’re a public official, does not mean you are above the law. If you assault a law enforcement officer, we will also make sure you answer to justice,” she added. “So, I think that arrests are still on the table for this. This is an ongoing investigation.”
The incident is notable as dozens of January 6 defendants were convicted of serious felonies for assaulting federal officers and ultimately sentenced to lengthy federal prison terms. Former NYPD officer Thomas Webster, a former Marine with no criminal record, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for shoving a police officer during the unrest.
“United States Representative LaMonica McIver has still not been arrested after assaulting multiple federal officers on video,” said Adam Christian Johnson, a former January 6 political prisoner who went to prison for simple trespassing.
“Within 48 hours of smiling and waving in the Capitol on J6, I was in county jail isolation under 24-hour supervision, charged with 3 crimes, 2 were lies, the other debatable. They put me in an ankle monitor and told me I was I was a danger to my community,” he added. “Meanwhile, this animal is still collecting a paycheck from our tax dollars.”
During a press conference following the incident, McIver tried to downplay the footage by claiming she was “attacked” and “manhandled” by federal agents.
Mayor Baraka was handcuffed, detained for five hours and formally charged with trespassing. An attorney for the mayor complained about the way the arrest was handled, claiming the offense would generally be handled with a ticket.
“They did this on a charge of trespass, a municipal charge which would normally be handled by way of a ticket,” Baraka’s attorneys wrote in a statement provided to Fox News. “His subsequent release by the court demonstrates that there was no reason to believe that this well-known and widely respected public official was either a flight risk or a danger to the community that he served.”
The Department of Homeland Security has not yet indicated whether they will refer McIver or any of the other lawmakers to the Department of Justice for potential criminal charges.
