Newark mayor sues Alina Habba over trespassing arrest at immigration center

NEWARK (CN) — Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, who Baraka claims violated his constitutional rights and defamed him when he was arrested at a federal immigration holding facility in May.

In a 17-page lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court, Baraka claims that his viral May arrest violated his Fourth Amendment right against false arrest and malicious prosecution.

“Today I filed a federal lawsuit against Alina Habba and DHS Agent Ricky Patel for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation,” Baraka said in a statement after filing the suit. “They abused their power to violently arrest me at Delaney Hall despite being invited inside. No one is above the law.”

Habba, who was formerly President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, and Ricky J. Patel, a special agent in charge of the Newark division of Homeland Security investigations, are listed as the lawsuit’s lone defendants.

Baraka has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s relentless and legally scrutinized mass deportations, and as part of that advocacy, visited the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark with members of Congress on May 9 to inspect the treatment of detainees there.

According to Baraka, he was allowed by a prison official to enter the property to wait for the Congress members while they inspected inside, only to later be accosted by Patel, who told him to leave.

Baraka says he complied and left as instructed. But minutes later, 20 Department of Homeland Security agents, “many armed and masked,” arrested him outside the facility anyway.

“Egged on by defendant Patel, who ordered the DHS agents to ‘take him down’ (meaning violently tackle the mayor of Newark), the agents pushed, shoved and assaulted the mayor’s security team and members of Congress before violently pulling Mayor Baraka’s arms and arresting him without probable cause,” Baraka claims in the suit.

After his arrest, Habba wrote on a personal social media account that Baraka trespassed and “ignored multiple warnings” from federal agents to leave the immigration facility.

“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law,” Habba wrote then. “That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody.”

Baraka contends that he hadn’t even been transported from Delaney Hall by the time Habba published that statement, which he argues is defamatory and false. The mayor adds that Habba doubled down on those defamatory statements in an interview with Fox News later that day, when she claimed that Baraka “refused to leave, was put under arrest inside the facility, walked out when he was told he was under arrest, and then was cuffed.”

The entire situation was manufactured by Habba and Patel for Baraka’s “maximum humiliation,” he claims.

Federal prosecutors booked the mayor on trespassing charges, but those charges were quickly dropped after a magistrate judge chastised Habba’s office for its handling of the case. According to Baraka, prosecutors later admitted that the charged conduct against him would have been a mere “petty offense.”

Baraka claims that Habba’s conduct throughout this process has defied her responsibility as a top federal prosecutor, and accuses her of acting according to her stated goal to “turn New Jersey red” while she is in office.

“These goals are antithetical to her role and ethical obligations as a U.S. Attorney,” Baraka argues.

Habba anticipated legal action against her office over the arrest. She posted the following statement to social media on Monday after claiming to receive a “leak” that Baraka planned to sue:

“My advice to the mayor — feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey,” she wrote.

Baraka — represented by Montclair, New Jersey-based law firm Smith Mullin — is seeking punitive and compensatory damages for the physical and reputational harm he experienced as a result of the incident.

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