‘I didn’t break any laws’: Newark mayor slams ‘humiliating’ arrest at ICE facility
Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, didn’t waste any time defending himself after his arrest outside an ICE facility sparked a chaotic scene that included protesters and several members of Congress who were on site.
“It was really humiliating and painful,” Baraka, who said he's now facing a federal trespassing charge, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday.
Speaking out just hours after his release from federal custody, Baraka, a candidate for governor of New York, took to CNN to tell his side of the story – and denounce the charges. He said he was there in support of members of Congress and his capacity as mayor, not to protest, and was wrongfully “targeted.”
“After they told us to leave, we left and they began to try to arrest me,” Baraka said. “I shouldn't say us. They targeted me and came after me specifically and arrested me.” He also slammed comments from Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and longtime Trump ally, that accused the Newark mayor of ignoring multiple warnings.
“The reality is, Alina Habba wasn't there,” he said. “She doesn't know what happened. I was there for over an hour in that space, and nobody ever told me to move."
“Not a single person,” he added. “Not an officer from ICE, not any of the security guards, nobody told me to leave that place.”
But Baraka said he has no regrets.
“I don't have any regrets at all,” Baraka told Collins. “I would do it again. I have a right to go to those facilities as the mayor of the city.”
“And it is not federal property,” he added. “It is, in fact, private property. GEO is privately owned.”
Watch the video below via CNN or at the link here: