Democrat Tells MSNBC She’s Scared Alina Habba Will Prosecute Her Too After ICE Scuffle
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) told MSNBC she is “concerned” she could be charged by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba after her colleague caught an assault charge over a scuffle at a Newark ICE facility.
Coleman joined Ana Cabrera on Wednesday and called the charge against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) an “act of intimidation.” Habba announced this week that McIver is facing charges of “assaulting, impeding or interfering with law enforcement” based on an incident earlier this month outside an ICE facility.
Coleman, Iver, Mayor Ras Baraka (D), and Rep. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) all arrived at a Newark ICE facility on May 9, where video shows that chaos ensued and there was a physical scuffle involving ICE officials and those outside the facility. The lawmakers said they were there to conduct congressional oversight of the facility, and they were eventually given a tour.
McIver and others have pushed back on the description of the event by Habba and others, including that McIver had body slammed an agent.
“I mean, I honestly do not know how to body slam anyone. There’s no video that supports me body slamming anyone,” she told CNN.
She also claims ICE officials unnecessarily escalated the situation.
Coleman backed up this version of events, telling Cabrera that ICE officials created “unnecessary chaos” outside the facility.
“At the end of the day, after all of this unecessary chaos started by ICE, we were given our tour,” Coleman said ahead of her colleagues first court appearance on Wednesday.
“Are you concerned you could be charged next?” Cabrera asked.
“I’m concerned that they could try to, yes,” the lawmaker said. “So, you know, I’m concerned only in that, I believe that they abuse the rule of law, not concerned because I did anything wrong. None of us did anything wrong. We tried to do our job, and there was no reason for the situation to go into that direction. And so, I don’t know what they think they’re gonna do, but I’m not concerned about the outcome.”
Baraka was also hit with a trespassing charge after the ICE incident, but that was ultimately dismissed.
Trump border czar Tom Homan stood firm behind the charges against McIver on Tuesday when MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing questioned whether the video actually backed up the assault claims by officials.
“I think she crossed the line. Again, I’m not the prosecutor, I don’t have to prove it in court, but the video I saw shows her at fault,” Homan said.
Watch above via MSNBC.
