Weaponizing Justice: How Trump and Habba Targeted Ras Baraka— The Arrest Was The Message

This Is What Resistance Looks Like

You probably read by now that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka filed a lawsuit against Trump shill Alina Habba, interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, for malicious prosecution. His arrest was motivated by political malice, not justice and I wonder if he was considered naming Trump as a co-defendant. I reached out to Baraka and he told me that “It’s easy for people to believe that a mayor being arrested— especially a mayor that looks like me— has been arrested for something other than what just happened. When people see me in cuffs, they automatically believe I did something wrong, I was guilty. The reality is, I didn’t do anything wrong. This is not about revenge. Ultimately, I think this is about them taking accountability for what has happened to me. I think all this stuff is designed to be a distraction. But I also think that us not responding is consent.” 

“The lawsuit,” wrote Tracey Tully, also names Ricky Patel, a supervising agent with Homeland Security Investigations who led the arrest of Baraka on May 9 outside a 1,000-bed detention center near Newark Liberty International Airport that has become a flashpoint in Trump’s immigration crackdown. Baraka’s lawsuit accuses the federal authorities of false arrest and malicious prosecution. It also accuses Habba of defamation...  Last month, Habba, who was appointed by Trump to be the state’s top federal prosecutor, abruptly announced that she was dropping a trespassing charge against Baraka— a development that prompted a federal judge to publicly question the validity of the ‘hasty arrest’ in the first place. ‘Your role is not to secure convictions at all costs, nor to satisfy public clamor, nor to advance political agendas,’ the judge, André Espinosa, said in a rare and harshly worded rebuke of the U.S. attorney’s office that Habba leads and where he once worked as a prosecutor.”

Espinosa “dismissed the misdemeanor-level charge with prejudice, meaning that prosecutors could not decide to refile the same claim… Baraka has said that he was intentionally targeted for arrest by Patel outside Delaney Hall, a privately run jail that the mayor had been pressing to shut down. Baraka has argued that the jail, which was empty for more than a year before it began holding migrants last month, does not have a valid certificate of occupancy. He had begun showing up daily to demand that fire safety officials be permitted inside to inspect the facility. Each day, Newark officials issued tickets to the private prison company that operates it, GEO Group, which has a contract with the Trump administration worth $1 billion over 15 years. The mayor was handcuffed on May 9 as he stood outside the jail’s gated perimeter, surrounded by three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation… Baraka’s lawsuit seeks unspecified financial damages and attorney fees, although he said what he really wanted was an apology. ‘Somebody should be responsible for what happened,’ Baraka said soon after the lawsuit was filed, at a news conference outside the federal courthouse in Newark. ‘To handcuff me, to drag me away, to take my fingerprints and mug shots for a misdemeanor,’ he added, ‘it’s egregious and malicious.’”

The arrest took place after Baraka had been allowed to wait inside Delaney Hall’s front gate for the federal lawmakers, who had entered the property. After about 45 minutes, he was told several times that he would be placed under arrest if he did not leave, according to a criminal complaint and the lawsuit.

He then walked out the front gate to a public area where protesters had gathered.

Minutes later, masked immigration agents, some carrying guns in holsters, came out from behind the gate and surrounded Baraka, who was taken into custody in a brief but volatile clash, according to video taken by news reporters, congressional aides and immigration activists.

Judge Espinosa ordered that Baraka be released that night after he had been photographed, fingerprinted and held for about five hours at a separate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Newark.

The goal, according to the lawsuit, was “maximum humiliation.”

… Aides to the mayor have said that Patel got several calls just before Mr. Baraka was taken into custody.

The mayor’s lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, said the lawsuit now enables her to subpoena Patel’s phone records to shed light on who he might have been speaking with before he ordered the arrest.

“It’s really important for all of us to stand up for democracy,” Smith said. “Mayor Baraka files this lawsuit not just to vindicate himself, but for all us, for our freedom, for all our constitutional rights.”

Tully noted that “Trump tapped Habba, his personal lawyer, to serve as the U.S. attorney for New Jersey two months after he took office for the second time, an appointment that underscored the president’s tightening grip over a Justice Department he claimed had been weaponized against him… On Monday night, Habba was dismissive of the widely anticipated legal action in a social media post. ‘My advice to the mayor,’ she wrote, ‘feel free to join me in prioritizing violent crime and public safety. Far better use of time for the great citizens of New Jersey.’”

The 6-day early voting period in New Jersey’s gubernatorial primary election— in which Baraka, along with Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop, are the top progressive candidates— began yesterday. Some fear that Habba’s circus was meant to throw the election to the leading establishment candidate, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the least likely candidate— along with Blue Dog Josh Gottheimer— to ever seriously confront Trump or challenge his policy agenda or personal corruption. (Remember, Trump operates his personal crime syndicate, at least in part, from his resort in Bedminster.) The New Jersey Globe reported that “Habba has promised to politicize the role as the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, saying she wanted to help Republicans win elections in the state.” 

The sleazebag prosecutor with no credibility outside MAGA circles said “We could turn New Jersey red. I really do believe that. There is momentum right now— President Trump’s agenda is working, the American people voted for it, 80 million people voted for it. And I think New Jersey is absolutely close to getting there. Hopefully, while I’m there, I can help that cause.”

That isn’t just unethical, it’s a typical MAGA-lie. Only 77.3 million people voted for Trump, not 80 million, and in New Jersey even as weak a candidate as Kamala Harris beat him by 6 points, 2,220,713 to 1,968,215. Nationally, Trump didn’t even get 50% of ballots cast—and in an election where just 64.1% of registered voters even bothered to go to the polls. What happened to Ras Baraka wasn’t just an abuse of power— it was a preview. This is how Trump and his loyalists govern: by turning the tools of justice into weapons of intimidation. Alina Habba wasn’t appointed U.S. Attorney because of her qualifications, of which she has none whatsoever; she was appointed because she’s willing to do what a real prosecutor never would: carry out the political dirty work of a corrupt strongman. That’s what happened in Newark. The message wasn’t subtle— it was handcuffed and fingerprinted.

If you’re a DWT regular, you already know that this is how democracy dies in plain sight: a popular mayor is dragged off by masked ICE agents for demanding a fire inspection. A judge calls it out as politically motivated. The charge is dropped, but the damage is done. And Habba? She laughs it off on social media, as if smearing and arresting a Black elected official in front of TV cameras is just another MAGA photo op. Make no mistake: Trump and Habba are trying to turn New Jersey into their next testing ground for authoritarian rule, an example of what the Founders feared when they warned about consolidating power in the hands of the unprincipled.

Which brings us to the primary, which will determine whether New Jersey stands up to Trump or bends the knee. Baraka has proven he’s willing to challenge power. Sherrill and Gottheimer, more Trump-aligned, have proven they’ll never seriously confront it. This election isn’t just about who runs Trenton. It’s about whether we allow Trump to run roughshod over democracy from Bedminster. Habba’s stunt wasn’t just a personal attack on Baraka— it was a message to every elected official who dares to stand up to the regime: you could be next.

Baraka put it best: “Us not responding is consent.” New Jersey has a chance to respond— forcefully, clearly, and at the ballot box.