US Rep. LaMonica McIver pleads not guilty to assault charges stemming from immigration center visit

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges accusing her of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center during a congressional oversight visit at the facility.

“They will not intimidate me. They will not stop me from doing my job,” she said outside the courthouse in Newark after the brief hearing.

McIver, a Democrat, was charged by interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump, following the May 9 visit to Newark’s Delaney Hall. Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility as a detention center.

This month she was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials. Two of the counts carry a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison. The third is a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison.

During Wednesday's hearing, McIver stood and told U.S. District Judge Jamel Semper: “Your honor, I plead not guilty.” The judge set a Nov. 10 trial date.

Outside the courthouse, McIver warned that anyone who pushes back against the Trump administration will find themselves in a similar position.

McIver’s lawyer, former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman, said McIver pleaded not guilty because she is not guilty. He said federal agents created a risky situation at Delaney Hall.

A message seeking comment Wednesday was left with Habba's office.

Among those at McIver's side Wednesday were her family and elected officials, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was outside the detention center with McIver and other legislators on May 9.

Baraka was also arrested on a trespassing charge that was later dropped and is suing Habba over what he called a malicious prosecution.

Baraka accused the Trump administration of using law enforcement as “an appendage of their ideology to begin to hammer us.”

The indictment of McIver is the latest development in a legal-political drama that has seen the Trump administration take Democratic officials from New Jersey’s largest city to court amid the president's ongoing immigration crackdown and Democrats’ efforts to respond. The prosecution is a rare federal criminal case against a sitting member of Congress for allegations other than fraud or corruption.

A nearly two-minute video clip released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver at the facility inside a chain-link fence just before Baraka's arrest on other side of the barrier, where other people were protesting. McIver and uniformed officials go through the gate, and she joins others shouting that they should circle the mayor.

The video shows McIver in a tightly packed group of people and officers. At one point her left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word “Police.”

It is not clear from police bodycam video if the contact was intentional, incidental or the result of jostling in the chaotic scene.

The complaint alleges that she “slammed” her forearm into an agent and then tried to restrain the agent by grabbing him.

The indictment also says she placed her arms around the mayor to try to stop his arrest and says again that she slammed her forearm into and grabbed an agent.

Democrats including New Jersey Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, who were with McIver at the detention center that day, have criticized the arrest and disputed the charges.

Members of Congress are legally authorized to go into federal immigration facilities as part of their oversight powers, even without notice. Congress passed a 2019 appropriations bill spelling out that authority.

McIver, 39, first came to Congress in September in a special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. left a vacancy in the 10th District. She was then elected to a full term in November.

A Newark native, she was president of the Newark City Council from 2022 to 2024 and worked in the city’s public schools before that.

Rep. LaMonica Mclver (D-10th) waves at supporters as she exits a federal court Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Paul Fishman, attorney for Rep. LaMonica Mclver (D-10th) speaks during a press conference outside a federal court Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rep. LaMonica Mclver, right, (D-10th) and attorney Paul Fishman, left, leave a press conference outside a federal court Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rep. LaMonica Mclver (D-10th) speaks during a press conference with her supporters outside a federal court Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Rep. LaMonica Mclver (D-10th) attends a press conference with her supporters outside a federal court Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Congresswoman Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., exits the grounds at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)