Ras Baraka’s Arrest: New Jersey NAACP, Other Black Leaders Sound Off
Photo courtesy City of Newark
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY – The Atlantic City branch of the NAACP and other organizations have joined in voicing protest over the arrest on Friday, May 9, of gubernatorial candidate and current Newark Mayor Ras Baraka in his city at a federal immigration detention facility.
Federal authorities accused Baraka on Friday of entering and staying on Delaney Hall property, a privately-run federal detention center in Newark, unlawfully, during an unannounced visit, officials told USA Today at the time.
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, and U.S. Rep. Brittany McIver were at the Delaney Hall as well but were not arrested. They refused entry into the Center. Trump administration officials, however, called their visit “a stunt” and charged that the mayor’s arrest was warranted.
He was eventually released and charged with trespassing after being held for hours.
Baraka and other Democrats had protested immigration policies of President Donald Trump. The arrest sparked condemnation among African American leaders and others around the state.
Atlantic City NAACP president Kaleem Shabazz, who also serves as city council vice president in Atlantic City, called the arrest an “affront to common sense.”
“The Atlantic City NAACP is outraged at the unjust and shocking arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. To arrest a mayor in his city for questioning the lack of procedures followed by ICE and the private company in opening a detention center is an affront to common sense,” Shabazz said in a statement.
“While the NAACP in no form is affiliated with any political parties, we demand justice, equality and fairness for everyone regardless of their citizenship status.”
New Jersey State NAACP Conference President Richard Smith said Baraka was simply arrested to standing up for “silent voices.”
“They arrested the mayor of Newark today — not for a crime, but for courage,” Smith said in a statement released by the Bergen County NAACP. “For standing where conscience demanded, outside Delaney Hall, in protest of a system that cages souls and silences voices. When a Black mayor and a Black congresswoman can be manhandled for peace, it tells you something deep and bitter about the nation’s heart.
“We have not learned from Birmingham. We have not learned from Selma. And I wonder — how long must we pay the price for America’s amnesia? Protest is not the crime. Injustice is.”
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who preceded Baraka as mayor of Newark before winning his Senate seat, said the incident was “disturbing” and “unnecessary” but “indicative of tactics that are undermining the safety and security of our communities, not adding to it.”
“Law enforcement officers should have deescalated this situation,” Booker said in a statement. “Moreover, the Trump administration’s decision to reopen Delaney Hall, a private, for-profit prison in our community, should have never gone forward. New Jersey deserves better and the Trump administration continues to take actions to undermine the wellbeing of our residents.”
NJ State Sen. Britnee Timberlake said that Watson Coleman was also assaulted at the scene. She said both incidents threaten the public’s ability to peacefully protest and the actions of federal officials were unjustified.
“The events at Delaney Hall detention facility underscore the urgent need for accountability and transparency in our immigration system,” Timberlake said in her statement. “[Baraka’s] leadership in demanding access, oversight, and justice should be commended, not criminalized.
“The visible assault caught on camera on Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman during this unrest is deeply troubling. No elected official, no citizen, no human being should ever face the threat of arrest or violence for simply being.”
Rachel Green and Roberta Walters, co-presidents the New Jersey Federation of Democratic Women, said the arrest and alleged attacks “demands redress.”
“We stand in full solidarity with Mayor Baraka, Congresswoman Watson Coleman, Congresswoman [Brittany] McIver, Congressman [Rob] Menendez, and all who courageously uphold democratic principles,” they said. “The suppression of peaceful protest and the targeting of our elected leaders is not only unjust — it is undemocratic.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in as well on Friday, calling the arrest unjust.
“Over the past few months, Mayor Baraka, as well as advocates, faith leaders, and members of our Congressional delegation, have protested the opening of a private immigration detention center in the city of Newark,” Murphy said in a statement.
“Four years ago, I was proud to sign a law banning private immigration detention centers in New Jersey. And just last week, my administration was leading the fight to defend that law before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.”
Baraka has been mayor of Newark since 2014. He is currently in a crowded Democratic primary race for New Jersey governor, replacing the term-limited Murphy.
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