Now they’re not just arresting mayors, but threatening members of Congress as well.
Here’s how things started off this Friday:
Federal officials arrested Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a candidate for governor, during a protest over the Trump administration’s housing of migrants at the private Delaney Hall detention facility that also drew multiple members of Congress — asserting that Baraka unlawfully trespassed on federal property and defied orders to leave.
The arrest, which follows other Trump administration arrests of local officials including a judge in Wisconsin, was met with immediate outrage by New Jersey officials, with several demanding his immediate release — and others saying that the stated reason for Baraka’s arrest doesn’t make sense.
“I am outraged by the unjust arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka earlier this afternoon outside of Delaney Hall in Newark,” wrote New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, noting that the mere existence of Delaney Hall is in violation of New Jersey state law prohibiting private immigration detention facilities. “I am calling for his immediate release by federal law enforcement.”
