Breaking News | LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty in federal court hearing

U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver waving outside the Frank Lautenberg Post Office and U.S. Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey on June 25, 2025. Photo credit: Anthony Orlando for Public Square Amplified.

Newark, NJ - U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver appeared in court on June 25, adding another chapter in her legal battle against the Department of Justice. On June 10, McIver was indicted on three counts of “forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers” as they tried to arrest Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka outside Delaney Hall on May 9. If convicted, McIver could face up to 17 years in prison.

As the case against McIver continues, Delaney Hall remains embroiled in controversy. McIver’s arraignment occurred not long after four detainees escaped from the facility on June 12 during an uprising reportedly instigated due to delayed meals. 

The immigrant detention center opened its doors on May 1 without approval or inspection from the City of Newark. When Baraka and McIver conducted an oversight visit to Delaney in May, federal agents arrested Baraka while he waited outside the facility, enraging the public even more.

“First of all, they tried to charge me and arrest me for being on property that they did not own…” said Baraka. “They had no grounds to arrest me. The charge was heinous. It was an overreach. And that’s why they dropped it. Because it was absolutely wrong.”

Dozens of supporters assembled in the scorching heat outside the Frank Lautenberg Post Office & U.S. Courthouse in Newark, where McIver’s court hearing took place. Like the scene at Baraka’s court hearing, a crowd stood in solidarity with McIver, demanding that the charges against her be dropped.

“They’re not just targeting representatives,” said Nathan Duguid, a Rutgers student and the Founder of the Young Voters Association. “They’re targeting young people on college campuses that want to use their voice, use their freedom of speech to learn, to educate themselves, and educate others. People who come to this land of plenty, this land of promise, and try to make better for themselves. [They’re] targeting every single one of us.”
Joining them were leaders and members of several advocacy groups, including the People’s Organization for Progress, Make the Road New Jersey, the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ), Faith In New Jersey, and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

Scenes of supporters outside the Frank Lautenberg Post Office and U.S. Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey on June 25, 2025. Photo credits: Anthony Orlando.

“This is all political theater at the hands of the Trump Administration, who is hell bent on scaring people like Congresswoman McIver, but also people like you,” Patty Martinez of the NJAIJ said to the crowd. “[McIver] was doing her job on May 9th…She was doing her job, and that is why we are here to defend her, because we will not let anyone who stands for the people be persecuted the way that she has been persecuted.”

Mayor Baraka joined everyone outside the courthouse to support McIver and denounce the Trump Administration. Confident that McIver will win in court, Baraka said in an interview that the case against her is “trumped up.”

“We want to stand in the way of injustice and stand in the way of these people who are absolutely trying to remove democracy and pretend that they’re doing what’s right for the country at the same time,” Baraka said in a statement. “This has nothing to do with the law. This has nothing to do with justice…This is sheer intimidation, sheer bullying. This is their opportunity to put their foot on our necks, to let people know that they’re in charge.”

After her hearing, McIver and her legal team walked outside the courthouse and addressed her supporters. One of her attorneys, Paul J. Fishman, revealed that McIver pleaded “not guilty” to the charges against her because, he said, “she is not guilty.” Fishman then stated that McIver and her team are “eager” to challenge the charges in federal court and that they are confident that the legal system will vindicate McIver.

“We will fight this,” McIver said to the crowd. “At the end of the day, this is all about political intimidation. The Trump Administration and his, you know, colleagues or cronies, whatever you want to call them, have weaponized the federal government. They weaponized the Department of Justice, and anybody who stands up to them, anyone who criticizes them, anyone who fights back against them, finds themselves in these hairs that we’re in today and this moment of time that I’m dealing with right now. And that does not stop me from doing my job.”

“We’ve seen different cases of this administration bullying and intimidating elected leaders,” McIver added. “From judges to anyone that gets in their way. This is what they do, and we will not stand for it. I will not stand for it. They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job. I will continue to do what the people of the 10th Congressional District elected me to do.”

Public Square Amplified will continue to follow this story as the legal case progresses.