As the current administration doubles down on its pursuit of authoritarian control, it has brought its first charges against a sitting member of congress by alleging that Democratic representative Lauren McIver “assaulted” law enforcement agents during the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka outside of the Delaney Hall ICE facility May 9. As part of a delegation that were prevented from performing a routine check of the facilities, McIver took part in surrounding Baraka, attempting to prevent his arrest.

While charges against Mayor Baraka have been dropped, the federal government is pursuing assault charges against McIver, accusing her of “elbowing” officers. Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY), a former federal prosecutor, characterized the charges as “embarrassing,” saying: “It is so clear that there’s no intent to inflict any physical harm or do anything with the necessary criminal intent. She’s in a scrum and is just trying to protect herself. And even if she did use her forearm to push an agent as part of a scrum, it would never, ever be charged against an average bystander, and certainly not against an elected official who has a constitutional right to be there.”

Cosecha and Pax Christi USA are both great organizations to support who are involved in this struggle in an ongoing way.

(Taken from an email sent to me by Never Again Action. Emphasis original.)