Newark mayor sues Trump's NJ prosecutor Alina Habba over 'false arrest' at immigration jail

Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka sued his state's top prosecutor, Alina Habba, on Tuesday over his arrest last month at an immigration detention center in his city.

Baraka's federal lawsuit alleges that Habba falsely arrested, maliciously prosecuted and defamed the Democratic mayor.

Habba is President Donald Trump's former personal defense lawyer, and his pick for interim U.S. attorney for the Garden State.

The civil suit in U.S. District Court in New Jersey accused Habba of "acting for political purposes and fulfilling her stated goal of 'turning New Jersey red' by instigating and/or authorizing the false arrest of Mayor Baraka, a Democrat."

The suit comes just over two weeks after Habba said her office would drop its case against Baraka "for the sake of moving forward."

In the same statement, Habba accused U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., of assaulting law enforcement officers during a scuffle that took place outside the detention center as Baraka was being handcuffed.

McIver is charged with two counts of assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officials in connection with the incident at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility center known as Delaney Hall.

Both McIver and Baraka have decried their prosecutions as acts of political intimidation by the Trump administration.

"They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited inside," Baraka said in an X post announcing his lawsuit against Habba and Ricky Patel, a special agent at the Homeland Security Department's Newark division.

"No one is above the law," Baraka said.

The mayor was arrested on May 9 after he and three U.S. House members demanded to be let inside the facility to conduct oversight. Members of Congress are legally permitted to enter ICE facilities without prior notice.

Baraka, who has previously sought to enter Delaney Hall, says he was invited onto the property by an agent of the private company that owns it.

Habba, announcing the arrest on X later that day, alleged that Baraka "committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself" from Delaney Hall.

"He has willingly chosen to disregard the law," Habba claimed. 'NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW."

Baraka's lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges he was held in federal custody for five hours, calling it an unusually strict for law enforcement to take ahead of an initial court appearance for the "petty offense of trespassing."

Ten days after his arrest, Habba moved to dismiss the charges.

Two days later, federal Judge Andre Espinosa granted that motion — but not before admonishing Habba over the "worrisome misstep" by her office.

The "hasty arrest" culminated in an "embarrassing retraction of charges" and suggests a "failure to adequately investigate" and "thoroughly consider the implications of your actions," the judge said.