President Donald Trump told reporters “the days of woke are over” as he defended his administration’s attempts to arrest Democratic Congresswoman LaMonica McIver.
New Jersey Rep. McIver is facing federal assault charges following an incident at an ICE detention facility earlier this month, which saw her become entangled in a scuffle with officers after they arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
McIver “assaulted, impeded and interfered with law enforcement,” during the incident claimed Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal lawyer who is currently serving as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Commenting on the case on Tuesday, Trump told reporters the congresswoman had been “out of control.”
“Give me a break. Did you see her? She was out of control,” said Trump. “Those days are over. The days of woke are over. That woman—I have no idea who she is—that woman was out of control. She was shoving federal agents.
“The days of that c–p are over in this country,” he added. “We’re going to have law and order.”
Video footage of the confrontation shows McIver protesting outside an ICE detention center at Delaney Hall earlier this month along with Baraka and a number of activists.
Tensions continued to escalate as officers swarmed the protesters, which caused McIver to allegedly push and shove an officer while attempting to exit the scrum.
Department of Homeland Security officials claimed the two politicians “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility,” although McIver has denied all wrongdoing and dismissed the charges as a “purely political” attempt to discredit her.
In a statement on X, McIver wrote: “Earlier this month, I joined my colleagues to inspect the treatment of ICE detainees at Delaney Hall in my district. We were fulfilling our lawful oversight responsibilities, as members of Congress have done many times before, and our visit should have been peaceful and short. Instead, ICE agents created an unnecessary and unsafe confrontation when they chose to arrest Mayor Baraka.”
“The charges against me are purely political—they mischaracterize and distort my actions, and are meant to criminalize and deter legislative oversight,” she added.
A number of top democrats have since spoken in defense of McIver’s arrest including Senator Chris Murphy, who tweeted: “This is a really big deal.
“I watched the tape. This is a political arrest—pure and simple. An attempt to punish Members of Congress for doing oversight of Trump’s illegality.”
But others, including the official House GOP account and MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk, claim the video footage shows McIver “clearly shoving DHS agents.”
Baraka, who had the charges against him dropped, claimed videos of the incident “make it clear that Delaney Hall personnel opened the gate for me, and allowed me to enter the property, as well as my calm and respectful departure when asked to leave”.
Delaney Hall, which can allegedly hold 1,000 people, has been heavily promoted by the DHS as the first immigration facility to be reopened by the Trump administration.
New Jersey state Attorney General Matthew Platkin meanwhile issued a scathing rebuke to Habba’s comments, and accused the interim attorney of “often making irresponsible and unethical statements on cable TV or social media without bothering to understand the facts or law at issue.”
“Charging a member of Congress who was conducting lawful oversight is an extraordinary step that requires clear evidence of criminal conduct and intent,” he wrote on X.
The Daily Beast has reached out to McIver and DHS for comment.
