Newark Mayor Appears in Court on Trespassing Charge

Last week a group of elected Democratic officials showed up at an ICE facility in New Jersey, supposedly to tour the facility. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka wound up getting arrested after a brief scuffle.

🚨DEMOCRAT MAYOR OF NEWARK, NJ HAS BEEN ARRESTED AFTER STORMING AN ICE FACILITY pic.twitter.com/c1Rsz2Dyx6

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 9, 2025

Today, Baraka was in court facing a misdemeanor charge of trespassing. It seems clear he expected to have the charges against him dropped and is not happy that isn’t happening.

Mr. Baraka, a Democrat running for governor of New Jersey, appeared in federal court for the first time since his arrest on Friday outside a new immigration detention facility in Newark that is expected to play a crucial role in President Trump’s deportation efforts…

On Thursday, during a brief preliminary hearing in Newark federal court, Mr. Baraka’s lawyers said they intended to file motions to dismiss the case for lack of jurisdiction and for selective prosecution, effectively casting his arrest as politically motivated.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 200 supporters after the hearing, Mr. Baraka described the trespassing charge, a misdemeanor, as a political spectacle orchestrated by the Trump administration that had “humiliated, degraded and demeaned” him.

Mayor Baraka was also outraged that he had to be processed again today by U.S. Marshals.

The court hearing, presided over by Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa, primarily focused on scheduling for discovery in the case. Confusion arose when the judge indicated that Baraka needed to be processed by the U.S. Marshals Service, despite Baraka’s assertion that he had already been processed after his arrest.

The judge clarified that while agents had processed him initially, the marshals had not. Baraka complied with the request, though he expressed frustration at what he perceived as an attempt to degrade him…

“They’re trying their best to humiliate and degrade me as much as they possibly can,” he said. “I feel like what we did was completely correct. We did not violate any laws. We stood up for the Constitution of this country, the constitution of the state of New Jersey.”

Baraka’s supporters showed up inside and outside the courtroom and jeered at U.S. attorney Alina Habba when she made an appearance.

Throngs of supporters again showed up for Baraka, as they did last week when he was first arrested.

The interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Alina Habba, sat in during Baraka’s brief court appearance but did not make public remarks…

The hearing itself was fairly perfunctory, resulting in a schedule for future action. But Habba’s appearance to jeers from Baraka supporters when she entered the courthouse suggests the government is not going to drop the charges.

Here’s video:

US Attorney for New Jersey Alena Habba is at Newark court for Mayor Ras Baraka’s hearing.

Baraka was arrested for trespassing at the ICE detention center in Newark.

He thought he was above the law. US Attorney Hanna said otherwise.pic.twitter.com/trWgI0hExn

— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) May 15, 2025

After the hearing, Mayor Baraka made a speech to his supporters outside. Here’s what the scene looked like:

Today, the U.S. Attorney General’s office chose to move forward with a trial over trespassing charges at Delaney Hall. While the charges are unwarranted, we will fight this. Grateful to everyone who showed up in support. This is bigger than me. It’s about all of us. pic.twitter.com/RMitrmm5H8

— Ras J. Baraka (@rasjbaraka) May 15, 2025

We’ll have to wait and see where this case goes but for now there is already speculation that it might help Baraka in his run for governor.

Baraka is one of six Democrats on the June 10 primary ballot, and he has been campaigning for months as an unapologetic progressive but has been vastly outspent spreading that message on the airwaves. His arrest Friday at the facility, known as Delaney Hall, could boost his profile just as Democratic voters look for a candidate willing to fight President Donald Trump.

“We’re fighting to uphold the Constitution the United States,” Baraka told supporters on a call with a coalition of progressive groups Monday evening. “We’re fighting to uphold democracy that every single person deserves due process.”

Baraka’s trial is expected to happen in mid-July.