
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Monday on Fox Business that an arrest would be āon the tableā for Democrat New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez if she trespassed and then assaulted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Ocasio-Cortez posted a video to Instagram Sunday. That video advocated for the Democrat representativesĀ involved in a scene at a New Jersey ICE facility. That incidentĀ led to the arrest of Democrat Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Fox Business co-host David Asman, discussing the pushback from Democrats on āThe Bottom Line,ā asked McLaughlin if an arrest would be imminent if Ocasio-Cortez went to the facility and pulled āthe same kind of stunt.ā
āIf she trespasses and if she assaults law enforcement officers, as we saw earlier, I think thatās certainly on the table. As far as weāve heard, a lot of Democrats make the argument that theyāre just conducting oversight, congressional oversight,ā McLaughlin said.
Chaos erupted Friday at the Delaney Hall facility. Baraka and Democrat New Jersey Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver were present. According to Fox News, DHS said the lawmakers and Baraka were held up with protestors at the facilityās first checkpoint when they tried to āstormā through the gates once the gates opened for a detention bus.
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āWe know thatās baloney because had they asked US, had they requested a tour, David, we would have happily facilitated that for them as well,ā McLaughlin said. āThere are public guidelines that we have offered, including that they need to notify US 24 hours in advance if they would like a tour of the facility. So, again, this is all political gamesmanship, and weāre not playing with the safety of our law enforcement officers.ā
Following Barakaās arrest, people who represent both McIver and Coleman pushed back on the ācharacterizationā that lawmakers stormed the facility. Colemanās staffĀ told Axios on Friday they were there to āexercise their oversight authorityā and were eventually āescortedā in.
The lawmakers later told CNNās āState of the Unionā that the chaos was ācreatedā by the agency, reiterating they were there to do their ājobs.ā
In her social media video, Ocasio-Cortez warned there would be a āproblemā for the department if they ālay a fingerā on āColeman or any of the representatives.ā
āYou lay a finger on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, and weāre going to have a problem,ā Ocasio-Cortez said.
On Saturday, DHS released agentsā bodycam footage on X showing the tense exchange between lawmakers and officials, accusing McIver of āassaulting an ICE agent.ā In a Friday interview, McLaughlin said the facility has been housing ārapists, child predators, an MS-13 gang member, even a suspected terrorist.ā
(Featured Image Media Credit:Ā Screenshot/Fox Business/āThe Bottom Lineā)
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