Body cam video shows arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at ICE facility

The Department of Homeland Security released body cam video Saturday showing the moments federal officers arrested the mayor of Newark, New Jersey, at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

DHS blurred the faces of those seen on camera.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody for allegedly entering and staying on Delaney Hall property unlawfully Friday. He was held for hours before being released and charged with trespassing.

More arrests possible after Newark ICE facility conflict, DHS official says

In a press release, the DHS accused Congressmembers Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr. of storming the gate and breaking into the facility illegally.

Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of public affairs for DHS, told CNN an investigation is underway and more arrests could be on the horizon.

“We actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE enforcement officers, including body-slamming a female ICE officer, so we will be showing that to viewers very shortly,” McLaughlin said.

“The notion that I or any of my colleagues ‘body slammed’ armed federal officers is absurd,” Watson Coleman wrote in a post on X.

“Nobody from ICE was slammed on the ground. We didn’t storm the place. So it’s, all of it is a lie,” Baraka said.

The mayor pushed back, saying he was invited to the ICE facility and stayed for over an hour.

“Somebody allowed me to go in. I didn’t climb a fence. I didn’t kick the door down,” Baraka said.

He claims no one said a word to him while he was on the property, but Alina Habba, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, posted on X that the mayor ignored multiple warning to remove himself.

Baraka described his arrest as humiliating, stressful and depressing.

“They made a decision to arrest me. They made a decision to violate me. They made a decision to humiliate me, to put me in cuffs and told the people to take me to the ground. Thank God the Office of Homeland Security didn’t do that,” he said.

The mayor said he was treated with dignity and respect while in custody, and he fully cooperated.  

Rally held to support Mayor Ras Baraka after arrest

Dozens attended a rally in New York City’s Foley Square on Saturday to show their support for Baraka.

“What happened yesterday to Mayor Baraka is wrong, it’s distressing and it is cause for action,” speaker Sienna Fontaine said.

“If they could do that to elected officials, none of us is safe,” supporter Sarah Birnbam said.

The mayor’s opponents in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race also came to his defense.

“The good news is he’s out. But the bad news is that there’s plenty of others who aren’t, and I think the point is we all have to stand here in solidarity and keep fighting back,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer said.

Baraka said he will continue his fight against the company running the ICE facility, calling the facility dangerous and illegal.

“We haven’t inspected it properly. We haven’t been in it. So we have to say that it’s dangerous,” he said.

Baraka said his visit to Delaney Hall was not about immigration, but rather demanding the contractor get an updated certificate of occupancy.

“They have one from 20 years ago and they’re standing on that, and we’re saying you have to get a new one every year,” he said.

“We have the proper permitting. We’ve gone through proper inspections. It’s a joke,” McLaughlin said on CNN.

DHS claims the facility’s permits are valid and have been cleared.