(CNN) — Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver said Tuesday that the federal assault charges filed against her a day earlier related to a chaotic melee outside an Immigration Customs and Enforcement detention facility are “absurd.”
“I think the charges are absurd. You know, it’s ridiculous. I was there to do my job, along with my other colleagues. We have done this before. This is our obligation to do. It’s in our job description to have oversight over facility, and the entire situation was escalated by ICE,” the New Jersey lawmaker said on CNN’s “News Central” in her first interview since being charged with assaulting federal law enforcement.
Lawmakers faced off with Homeland Security Department officers earlier this month as they tried to visit a Newark, New Jersey, ICE facility, despite Congress’ oversight authority of federal facilities.
The incident started as officers attempted to arrest the Democratic mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, after he tried to join the lawmakers inside the facility. As tensions grew, so did the physicality of the situation, with officers and lawmakers pushing and shouting at one another before Baraka was ultimately detained for several hours.
Video taken during the scrum appears to show McIver using her body to push past federal agents and get to Baraka as he was being taken away in handcuffs. It also shows McIver using her arms to push agents. McIver previously rejected allegations that she assaulted the federal officers.
Prosecutors said Monday that they will drop the federal trespassing charge against Baraka, but acting US Attorney Alina Habba accused McIver of assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.
The Democratic congresswoman said Tuesday she’s still trying to get more information on next steps, but so far, it’s “business as usual.”
“My attorneys are in contact with the federal courts in New Jersey, and North New Jersey, so we’re just waiting on direction for now, it’s business as usual. I’m going to do my job,” she said.
McIver added the situation “could have easily not happened” and put blame on the ICE officers.
“They had every opportunity to not allow this to happen. It was very unnecessary. … If I’m going to be charged with a crime for doing my job, it just speaks to where we’re headed in this country and what we’re dealing with, as leaders and as congressmembers,” she told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
The Justice Department and McIver had attempted to negotiate a plea deal that would have averted charges, CNN previously reported, though Habba said in a statement Monday that McIver “declined” the DOJ’s attempts to “come to a resolution.”
In response to reports of a potential plea deal, McIver said, “Well, the Justice Department and Alina Habba wanted me to admit to doing something that I did not do, and I was not going to do that. Once again, I came here to do my job and conduct an oversight visit, and they wanted me to say something differently, and I’m not doing that.”
McIver continued, “I’m not going to roll over and stop doing my job because they, you know, don’t want me to, or they want to neglect the fact that we needed to be in there to see what was going in that detention center.”
According to court documents, McIver started chanting “hell no” as federal agents announced they were going to arrest the Newark mayor. She and two other members of Congress then allegedly surrounded the mayor, preventing him from being handcuffed.
McIver then “slammed her forearm into the body of … a uniformed HIS (DHS) agent,” and tried to “restrain (the officer) by forcibly grabbing him,” the documents say.
After Baraka was arrested, court documents allege, the congresswoman “pushed” an ICE officer and “used each of her forearms to forcibly strike” that officer. The complaint includes screenshots of officer body-worn camera of the incident.
Under the annual appropriations act, which allocates funds for federal agencies, lawmakers are permitted to enter “any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.”
The law is also clear that members of Congress are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” in their oversight capacity.
It is unclear whether the Justice Department will charge the two other members of Congress who were with McIver at the detention facility, Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Robert Menendez Jr.
McIver said she “would not have done anything different.”
“We were there to conduct an oversight visit,” McIver said. “They gave us a tour and allowed us to go in and tour the facility and speak to detainees. So, you know, I would not have done anything different.”
She referred to her experience as political intimidation, saying, “We’ve seen this administration come after and attack, you know, leaders for doing their jobs. It’s political intimidation, and I will not be intimidated.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
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