What people should know about the federal charges brought against McIver following an incident at a Newark ICE detention facility.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., a sitting member of Congress, was released on her own recognizance following a Wednesday hearing. She faces federal charges in connection with the assault of federal law enforcement officers outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, New Jersey. That she was arrested on these charges is rare, and perhaps without a historical analog. In the few instances in which the federal government has pursued charges against a current member of Congress, it is typically for a crime related to political corruption.
There’s little question, per video footage from the May 9 incident, that McIver was in the middle of a scrum of people seeking to stop the arrest of Newark’s mayor, Ras J. Baraka, and enter the ICE facility. As a sitting member of Congress, McIver has the legal right to enter the facility, although she — of course — does not have the right to assault federal officers on the way in.
But what people should know is that something is amiss with the decision to charge McIver. Before bringing charges against a sitting member of Congress, current, but paused, Department of Justice rules dictate that federal prosecutors confer with the Public Integrity Section. In addition, that section is supposed to sign off before charges are filled.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/new-jersey-lamonica-mciver-federal-charges-rcna207794