Newark Mayor Ras Baraka reacted colorfully to a judge’s scolding of Trump administration prosecutors for their “embarrassing” decision to charge him with trespassing—then quickly retract those charges.
“Jesus, he tore these people a new a--hole. Good grief,” he said afterward on a hot mic.
That comment, the New Jersey Globe reported, came after a more than five-minute tongue lashing by U.S Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa aimed at Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Demanovich’s office over the initial misdemeanor charges against Baraka.
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He and other Democrats were arrested outside an immigration detention facility earlier this month while attempting to enter and conduct oversight.
“An arrest of a public figure is not a preliminary investigative tool. It is a severe action,” Espinosa said during Wednesday’s virtual court hearing. “It should only be undertaken after a thorough, dispassionate investigation of credible evidence.”
“Federal prosecutors serve a single paramount client: justice itself,” Espinosa added. “Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas. Your allegiance is to the impartial application of the law, to the pursuit of truth, and to the upholding of due process for all.”
Yet that wasn’t what happened, the judge said.
“The apparent rush in this case, culminating today in the embarrassing retraction of charges, suggests a failure to adequately investigate,” Espinosa went on. “Your office must operate with a higher standard than that.”
Baraka’s May 9 arrest occurred amid protests against the reopening of Delaney Hall, which Baraka alleges is operating illegally. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate later went on CNN to say his arrest was “targeted.”
The mayor’s prosecution, which some on the right thoroughly enjoyed, was led by interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba.
A former personal attorney for Donald Trump and a current counselor to him, Habba listened in on the hearing, according to The Washington Post, and declined to speak.
Habba on Monday also charged Rep. LaMonica McIver with assaulting two ICE agents. McIver has called the prosecution “purely political.”
The visit to the detention center “should have been peaceful and short,” she said in a statement.
“Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka,” she continued. “The charges against me are purely political—they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight."
The case against McIver will continue—for the moment, at least.
