Ras Baraka, the Democratic mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and a contender in the race to become governor, has been arrested for trespassing after refusing to exit Delaney Hall, a federally-contracted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, during a protest.
According to Shore News Network, Baraka "was taken into custody Thursday afternoon after allegedly committing trespass and defying multiple warnings from federal authorities to vacate the ICE detention center in Newark."
The arrest was announced by Alina Habba, the longtime and controversial personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is currently serving as acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
“He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,” she said.
This follows reporting earlier in the day from Fox News' Bill Melugin that two New Jersey Democratic members of Congress, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, also joined in at the protest at Delaney Hall and "holed up" around a guard shack on the premises.
Delaney Hall, a privately-operated prison facility, was the first new immigration detention center to open under Trump's new term, and is the largest detention center of its kind on the east coast.