Top DHS Official Responds To Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s Arrest During An Interview On CNN

Forbes Breaking News

On Saturday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin spoke with CNN's Victor Blackwell about the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka at an incident outside an ICE facility.

Transcript

00:00I want to start here just broadly. What happened there at the facility that justified arresting

00:07the mayor of the city of Newark? Thanks, Victor, for having me. I'm glad I can be here to actually

00:12give viewers the facts. What happened as that these members of Congress, including the mayor

00:18as well, in a mob of protesters, as there was a bus full of detainees going through the gate,

00:24they stormed the gate and actually entered the first security checkpoint. This put law

00:29enforcement at risk, and this actually put the detainees as well at risk. If any official,

00:34including these members of Congress, want to enter the facility and take a tour, DHS is more

00:39than accommodating. But just because you're a member of Congress does not mean you can break the law,

00:44trespass, put law enforcement at risk, and storm the detention facility. I haven't yet to hear

00:50anyone on this network actually talk about who is in this detention facility. There are members of

00:56MS-13 known terrorists, murderers, child rapists. There are some of the worst of the worst in this

01:03detention facility. And I'm still very confused why these Democrats are so hellbent on getting these

01:08heinous actors out of this facility when we have the proper permitting. And actually, in that press

01:14conference, those members of Congress actually noted the great conditions of this facility that

01:20our ICE enforcement officers so bravely operate. So, as you said here today and in your statement,

01:26that they stormed the gate and broke into the detention center, according to the statement,

01:33was anybody else arrested other than the mayor of Newark? There were multiple people arrested.

01:38And, Victor, I think that we should let viewers know there will likely be more arrests coming. We

01:43actually have body camera footage of some of these members of Congress assaulting our ICE

01:49enforcement officers, including body slamming a female ICE officer. So, we will be showing that

01:56to viewers very shortly. You say a video of members of Congress body slamming ICE officials?

02:02That's correct. Officials? That's correct, sir. It's disgusting.

02:06Okay. And so, if you have that video, are you suggesting that members of Congress will be

02:12arrested who were there yesterday? This is an ongoing investigation,

02:15and that is definitely on the table. Who has the video?

02:19ICE does, and we will be releasing that very shortly.

02:22Okay. Let's talk about the facility, because what the mayor says, and he's been saying for several days,

02:30is that you all don't have the proper permitting, or at least the facility, owned by Geo Group,

02:36a private company that's contracted with the federal government, does not have the proper

02:41permitting, the certificate of occupancy, and there are some violations. To that, you say what?

02:48That is flat-out false. That is just political gamesmanship. We have the proper permitting.

02:53We've gone through proper inspections. It's a joke. And by the way, he should not—this is a guy who is

03:00going and storming an ICE detention facility. He's putting detainees at risk. He's putting law

03:05enforcement at risk. He's joined by a mob of people who have said we should end ICE. This is nothing

03:12more than political games, and we're not playing. So, there's a member of Congress,

03:18LaMonica McIver, who says that—she told USA Today that ICE asked the mayor to leave. He did.

03:26And from the video that I've seen, when he was taken into custody, he was on public property. He

03:32was no longer on the private property of Geo Group. So, if he was asked to leave and then he

03:38complied, why then take him into custody? Whether you are a civilian, a mayor, or a member of Congress,

03:46if you are storming an ICE detention facility and putting law enforcement and detainees at risk,

03:51you can bet that we will arrest you and you will face the law, you will face justice. These other

03:57members of Congress will as well, as will the other protesters, some of which were arrested.

04:02Okay. So, we've got the mayor coming up in just a moment. But while I have you,

04:06I want to ask you about this reporting that the president is in conversations about suspending

04:12habeas corpus, one's right to challenge their detention in court. What would be the purpose of

04:19that when the Constitution says that there are very rare opportunities for this to happen only

04:26when there is an invasion? And so, why would that be necessary at this point? We could put up here

04:33this Section 9 of Article 1. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended

04:38unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.

04:44Victor, I'm not going to get ahead of the president. I'm not going to get ahead of Secretary Noem

04:48when they have an announcement to make. They will make it. But I am looking forward to your

04:52interview with the mayor. I wonder what he'll say about the body camera footage of some of his

04:56colleagues assaulting law enforcement agents. I wonder if he thinks that they should be held

05:00accountable because they will be.

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