US
Bodycam footage shows ICE agents arrest Newark mayor Ras Baraka
Bodycam footage has captured the arrest of a US city mayor during a protest at a federal immigration detention centre.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was released from custody hours after he was detained on Friday, has denied trespassing during a confrontation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
He was at the facility, which opened in the New Jersey city last week, with three members of Congress and witnesses said his arrest came after he tried to join them in entering the centre.
Ras Baraka (centre) has been released from custody. Pic: Reuters
In bodycam footage released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an agent can be heard telling him: “Listen, congressmen are different, congresswomen are different.
“Mr Mayor, anyone that is not a congresswoman or man, step back… It’s your last warning. You will be placed under arrest.”
A heated argument broke out after Mr Baraka’s entry was blocked and he left the secure area to rejoin protesters on the other side of the gate.
Minutes later, several ICE agents, some wearing face coverings, surrounded him and others on the public side.
Mr Baraka was dragged back through the gate in handcuffs, as protesters shouted: “Shame.”
Protesters shout ‘let him out’ after mayor’s arrest. Pic: AP
Alina Habba, interim US attorney for New Jersey, said on X that Mr Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group, adding he had “chosen to disregard the law”.
The DHS said in a statement that the politicians had not asked for a tour of the Delaney Hall centre, which the agency said it would have facilitated.
The department said that as a bus carrying detainees was entering in the afternoon “a group of protestors, including two members of the US House of Representatives, stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility”.
After his release on Friday night, the mayor told waiting supporters: “The reality is this: I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mr Baraka, a Democrat running to succeed term-limited Governor Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with Donald Trump‘s administration over illegal immigration.
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He has been a vocal critic against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention centre, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.
DHS said in its statement that the facility has the proper permits and inspections have been cleared.