June 3, 2025
attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba Tuesday over his arrest while protesting the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts last month. S. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) sued acting U.
. He is seeking unspecified financial damages and attorney fees. In the lawsuit, Baraka accused Habba, one of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorneys, of violating his rights by subjecting him to false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation
. Ricky Patel, a Department of Homeland Security investigations official who coordinated the arrest of Baraka, was also named as a defendant in the mayor’s lawsuit
”. “No one is above the law. “They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited inside,” Baraka mentioned in a statement
Baraka was arrested May 9 outside a prison that’s being transformed into an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility and was charged with trespassing.
” . Shortly after Baraka’s arrest, Habba abruptly announced that her office would drop its case against him “for the sake of moving forward
A federal judge didn’t immediately dismiss the charges. . Instead, the judge called a hearing and heavily reprimanded federal prosecutors for more than five minutes over Baraka’s arrest before dismissing the charges
. “Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,” the judge noted officials from the District of New Jersey
”. It is a severe action, carrying significant reputational and personal consequences, and it should only be undertaken after a thorough, dispassionate evaluation of credible evidence. “An arrest, particularly of a public figure, is not a preliminary investigative tool
The mayor was arrested alongside Democratic Rep. . ), who Habba’s office has charged with assaulting and impeding law enforcement officials. LaMonica McIver (N. J
McIver, the first sitting member of Congress to be criminally prosecuted by the Trump administration, alleged her arrest and the charges against her were politically motivated and meant to intimidate Congress from conducting oversight of the Trump administration.
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