Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said Monday on Fox Business that an arrest would be “on the table” 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 representatives involved in a scene at a New Jersey ICE facility. That incident led to the arrest of Democrat Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Fox Business co-host David Asman, discussing the pushback from Democrats on “The Bottom Line,” asked McLaughlin if an arrest would be imminent if Ocasio-Cortez went to the facility and pulled “the same kind of stunt.”
“If she trespasses and if she assaults law enforcement officers, as we saw earlier, I think that’s certainly on the table. As far as we’ve heard, a lot of Democrats make the argument that they’re just conducting oversight, congressional oversight,” 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 facility’s first checkpoint when they tried to “storm” through the gates once the gates opened for a detention bus.
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“We know that’s baloney because had they asked us, had they requested a tour, David, we would have happily facilitated that for them as well,” McLaughlin said. “There 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 we’re not playing with the safety of our law enforcement officers.”
Following Baraka’s arrest, people who represent both McIver and Coleman pushed back on the “characterization” that lawmakers stormed the facility. Coleman’s staff told Axios on Friday they were there to “exercise their oversight authority” and were eventually “escorted” in.
The lawmakers later told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the chaos was “created” by the agency, reiterating they were there to do their “jobs.”
In her social media video, Ocasio-Cortez warned there would be a “problem” for the department if they “lay a finger” on “Coleman or any of the representatives.”
“You lay a finger on Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman or any of the representatives that were there, you lay a finger on them, and we’re going to have a problem,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
On Saturday, DHS released agents’ bodycam footage on X showing the tense exchange between lawmakers and officials, accusing McIver of “assaulting an ICE agent.” In a Friday interview, McLaughlin said the facility has been housing “rapists, child predators, an MS-13 gang member, even a suspected terrorist.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox Business/”The Bottom Line”)
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