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Why has Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued interim US attorney Alina Habba? Here's what all we know
Alina Habba, US Attorney for New Jersey, faces a lawsuit from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who claims his constitutional rights were violated during his detention.
Alina Habba, the temporary U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, is being sued by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who claims that she infringed his constitutional rights and slandered him during his detention at a federal immigration detention facility last month.
Baraka sued Habba, a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, and Ricky J. Patel, a special agent who oversaw Homeland Security operations in the Newark, Arkansas, division. The mayor claims that his Fourth Amendment protections against wrongful arrest and unfair prosecution were infringed.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Baraka was detained on trespassing charges on May 9 after he and congressional members tried to get inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Newark to see how inmates were being treated. The accusations were later withdrawn.
Habba had said that Baraka disregarded several Homeland Security warnings to get out of the facility. She later stated that she was dropping the misdemeanor charge “for the sake of moving forward.”
Here's what Newark Mayor's lawsuit against Alina Habba says
The lawsuit claims that a security guard at the Department of Homeland Security-affiliated private prison corporation, The GEO Group's Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, permitted Baraka to enter the building in order to quell a group of demonstrators outside, NBC News reported.
However, Patel denied that he had been invited to that location and eventually urged the mayor to leave.
According to the lawsuit, roughly 20 homeland security officers "many armed and masked, descended on the Mayor and members of Congress without any attempt to calm fears or ensure peace" five minutes after Baraka exited the property.
The lawsuit claims that they detained Baraka "without probable cause" after roughly removing his arms.
Prior to the mayor's removal from Delaney Hall, Habba allegedly “issued a false and defamatory statement on her personal social media account,” according to the lawsuit, claiming that he had trespassed on the facility and disregarded repeated orders from DHS personnel to vacate.
Baraka charges Habba with acting politically and achieving her declared objective of “turning New Jersey red” by causing and/or approving the erroneous arrest of the Democrat Mayor.
What is Baraka's demands?
Baraka claims that his Fourth Amendment right against arbitrary seizures has been violated and is seeking monetary damages. According to the lawsuit, Mayor Baraka “suffered severe reputational harm, emotional distress, and other damages” as an outcome of the “malicious prosecution of Mayor Baraka, which resulted in an unlawful seizure and detention.”
