Outside the Beltway

Authoritarian Intimidation

Arresting Newark Mayor Baraka is clearly a signal.

Steven L. Taylor · Saturday, May 10, 2025 · 8 comments

Via NBC News: Newark mayor arrested at ICE detention facility in New Jersey for alleged trespassing.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was arrested Friday on trespassing charges during a chaotic scene involving protesters, members of Congress and federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

[…]

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said in a post on X Friday afternoon that she and two other Democratic members of the New Jersey congressional delegation were “exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves” what it’s like at the ICE facility.

In a criminal complaint filed in a New Jersey district court Friday, the special agent in charge of the Newark division of DHS, Ricky Patel, signed an affidavit accusing Baraka of unlawfully entering and remaining in the ICE facility. Patel said that “notice against trespass was given.”

Baraka gave a different account, saying in an interview Friday night that he was allowed on the property in the first place and that nothing happened for at least an hour.

“After they finally told us to leave, and I told them I was leaving, they came outside the gate and arrested me. So it looked like it was targeted,” Baraka told Jen Psaki on MSNBC.

He added that the charges have not been dropped, and that he must appear in court.

As with all such circumstances, it is difficult to know all of the facts from afar. However, the things that are clear is that they wanted to make an example of Baraka, likely because he had been critical of the facility.

The report from WABC in New York (Newark Mayor Ras Baraka released after being arrested at ICE detention center) noted thst Baraka did enter inside the gates of the facility and was told to leave. He did leave but then ICE came outside the gates to bring him back inside the fences to arrest him.

“They went off of the property, onto the public property, and arrested the mayor. They did not tell him why. They have not told any of us why. They just snatched him and took him,” Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman said.

Video shows members of Congress and the Mayor being pushed and shoved by federal law enforcement agents from ICE, after a protest developed into Mayhem outside of Delaney Hall.

Mayor Baraka can be seen being pulled onto federal property and then hauled away in handcuffs.

The video shows ICE agents (some in masks) pushing and shoving members of Congress in the confrontation. Given that all of that took place outside the gates of the facility, the notion that force was needed to get them out of the facility is nonsensical.

There is perhaps some legal figleaf that covers these actions, but there were clearly unnecessary and if they were going to arrest Baraka, why didn’t they arrest the members of Congress?

The federal governments response to all of this is absurd, but is clearly designed to shape reality for their supporters.

Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said that the members were “storming” and illegally broke into the facility.

“Members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk,” McLaughlin said in a statement. “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. This is an evolving situation.”

The only reason there was any physicality was because ICE went to drag Baraka away. I have seen no evidence of members of Congress storming anything, let alone putting anyone at risk. At risk from what?

Where were they trying to “break into” the facility?

And if the MoCs were, in fact, committing crimes, why weren’t they arrested instead of just the Mayor?

Also on McLaughlin’s Twitter feed, we have this:

This is not a video of a mob trying to break into the facility. It is a video of ICE agents dragging Baraka (in the top center of the frame) onto the property to arrest him. Most of the “mob” is standing there filming on their phones.

McLaughlin is simply engaging in pure propaganda.

Ultimately, this boils down not to whether there is a legal case for a trespassing conviction. I suspect that if such a conviction takes place, a fine will be paid, and no jail time will be served. Further, I expect Baraka to see it as a badge of honor and a sign of getting into good trouble.

No, this is not about trespassing. It is about a federal government willing to use law enforcement to intimidate citizens, including elected officials. It is about a federal government that does not want oversight, especially as it pertains to the way it enforces it immigration policies.

It is intimidation with a massive side-helping of propaganda.

It is just pure authoritarianism.

Could ICE have just let the MoCs and the mayor in? Yes.

Could ICE just have let the protest take place outside the facility? Yes.

Could ICE have let Baraka go after he was already outside the gates? Yes.

Could DHS tell the truth about what was going on? Yes.

And yet the wrong choices were made in each instance. The existence of a legal justification does not make the action just or necessary.

Going to grab Baraka after he had left the facility was an abuse of power and clearly meant to send a signal.