Newark Mayor Ras Baraka appears in court after ICE arrest outside Delaney Hall
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka appeared in federal court for a status conference Thursday following his arrest outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility last week.
Prosecutors confirmed they will proceed to a trial after Baraka was charged with trespassing. It will likely start in mid-July.
Mayor of Newark calls for federal charges to be dismissed
The procedural hearing was just the beginning of Baraka's legal battle. It lasted about 30 minutes, but both sides made it clear they are not backing down.
A group of demonstrators rallied in support of the mayor outside the courthouse, and the crowd shouted at federal prosecutors as they entered the building.
"Shame! Shame! Shame!" protesters shouted.
After the hearing, Baraka addressed his supporters and called for the charges against him to be dismissed.
"We believe I was targeted in this. I was the only person arrested, I was the only person identified, I was the only person they put in a cell," he said. "This is wrong, it is unjust, it is undemocratic, it is unpatriotic, it is un-American."
Baraka is currently among the Democratic candidates running for governor of New Jersey.
Baraka was arrested by ICE agents
ICE agents took Baraka into custody on trespassing charges last Friday outside Delaney Hall, a detention center that opened just weeks ago.
The mayor, along with other lawmakers and immigration advocates, have said the 1,000-bed facility did not obtain the necessary permits and blocked inspections. The Department of Homeland Security denies those allegations.
Baraka told CBS News New York he was not at Delaney Hall that day to protest, but to support members of New Jersey's congressional delegation who were there to tour the facility.
"The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon," U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba wrote on social media after his arrest.
The mayor pushed back, saying he was invited and stayed for over an hour.
"We didn't storm the place. All of it is a lie," he said last week. "Somebody allowed me to go in. I didn't climb a fence. I didn't kick the door down."
He was held in custody for four hours before being released. The trespassing charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 days in prison.
