Rep. McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges, could face over 12 years in prison

'Justice for LaMonica': Rep. McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges

Representative LaMonica McIver has pleaded not guilty to assault charges in connection with an arrest outside of a Newark ICE detention facility. FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini has more.

NEWARK - Representative LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty to assault charges made in connection to her visit to an immigration detention facility in Newark. 

McIver pleads not guilty

What we know:

McIver is accused of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers during a congressional oversight visit at Delaney Hall ICE detention center – the incident in question refers to when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside said facility.

The representative could face more than 12 years in prison; the judge laid out a schedule for legal proceedings, leading to a projected trial in November.

FOX 5 NY's Stephanie Bertini reports that a crowd of people, including community advocates and local leaders, gathered outside the federal courthouse to rally in support of her. McIver later emerged from the courthouse before addressing the crowd on the steps.

"We will fight this," McIver told the crowd. "The Trump administration… has weaponized the federal government. They weaponize the Department of Justice, and anybody who stands up to them, anyone who criticizes them, anyone who fights back against them, find themselves in these hairs that we're in today."

McIver indicted on federal charges

The backstory:

McIver was indicted on June 10 on the federal charges listed earlier. Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced the grand jury indictment in a post on X.

McIver was charged in a complaint by Habba last month with two assault charges stemming from the May 9 visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall — a 1,000-bed, privately owned facility that Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses as a detention center.

The indictment includes three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Habba said two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. A third has a maximum sentence of one year.