Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has launched footage he says proves he was invited onto the grounds of Delaney Corridor, a brand new ICE detention middle in New Jersey, the place he was arrested for trespassing final week.
Baraka was taken into custody on Friday on the facility in Newark and detained for a number of hours earlier than his eventual launch. He mentioned he was there to take part in a press convention with a congressional delegation made up of Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver, who confirmed as much as perform a shock inspection of the 1,000-bed detention middle.
Witnesses on the scene mentioned issues took a flip for the tense when Baraka tried to enter the ability alongside the delegation.
On Wednesday, Baraka took to X to share video of the second he “was invited into Delaney Hall” in a bid to disprove claims he’d been trespassing.
“Nobody was kicking or shoving like the coverage suggests,” he wrote. “We were invited in.”
That is the second I used to be invited into Delaney Corridor. No person was kicking or shoving just like the protection suggests. We had been invited in. pic.twitter.com/ecDrEhMQkr
The ten-second clip exhibits a guard on the middle opening up the gate, after which ushering Baraka inside.
A short while later, a federal official allegedly informed Baraka that he wasn’t allowed to enter as a result of he’s “not a Congress member,” prompting him to return to the general public facet of the fence. Inside minutes, he was surrounded by officers, who ultimately took him into custody.
Interim U.S. Legal professional for the District of New Jersey and former Donald Trump protection lawyer Alina Habba later mentioned Baraka “committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark.”
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark walks previous Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) brokers standing close to a gate to Delaney Corridor on Could 7, 2025. (Picture by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
However Baraka has known as the characterization of his go to deliberately deceptive, saying he’s been “shocked by all the lies” informed about his arrest. He mentioned clips from the scene “make it clear that Delaney Hall personnel opened the gate for me, and allowed me to enter the property, as well as my calm and respectful departure when asked to leave.”
“None of my actions were orchestrated or preconceived, and this arrest occurred because I was specifically targeted by this administration,” he continued.
Baraka, a Democrat who’s working to succeed term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, has lengthy been pushing again in opposition to opening the Delaney Corridor facility in Newark, signaling his intention to tackle the Trump administration and its unlawful immigration crackdown. He has accused ICE of opening the ability with out the mandatory permits and refusing to permit metropolis inspectors into the jail, a declare Homeland Safety officers have dismissed as “false.”
