Filed Date: June 3, 2025
Case Ongoing
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This case is about the arrest and prosecution of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a protest at an ICE detention facility. On June 3, 2025, Mayor Baraka filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Mayor Baraka sued Interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Ricky J. Patel under the Fourth Amendment. Represented by private counsel, Mayor Baraka sought compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. Magistrate Judge Leda D. Wettre currently presides over the case.
Mayor Baraka argued that Habba and Patel acted with politically motivated malice, unlawfully arrested and prosecuted him, and then publicly defamed him. The complaint alleged that on May 9, 2025, Mayor Baraka joined members of Congress at Delaney Hall ICE facility for an "oversight visit.” Though he remained peaceful and complied with directions, he claims DHS agents violently arrested him without probable cause for trespassing. The trespass charges were dropped within thirteen days, with U.S. Magistrate Judge André Espinosa harshly criticizing the prosecution for acting hastily and without adequate investigation. (You can read more about the dismissed criminal case against Baraka here.)
On June 4, 2025, Mayor Baraka filed an amended complaint that added a new cause of action for false light invasion of privacy. Mayor Baraka alleged that Habba’s public statements, particularly her social media posts and interviews, deliberately cast him in a misleading and damaging light by suggesting he had committed a crime for political gain.
The case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Victoria Tan (6/19/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70445695/parties/baraka-v-habba/
Martinotti, Brian R. (New Jersey)
SMITH, NANCY ERIKA (New Jersey)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70445695/baraka-v-habba/
Last updated July 16, 2025, 9:49 a.m.