Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-NJ) claimed on Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials would use “manufactured” body cam footage to make it appear as though she and her fellow protesters — which included two other House Democrats and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka — had been the instigators.
Watson-Coleman appeared on CNN on Saturday to discuss the incident that took place outside Delaney Hall — an ICE-operated detention center in Newark, New Jersey, that currently houses criminal illegal aliens. She and fellow Garden State Reps. Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver had joined Mayor Baraka and had demanded access to the facility to exercise “oversight.”
WATCH:
🚨JUST NOW: These members of Congress know they are in some deep sh*t right now.
They are claiming that any additional footage from body cams will be “manufactured” to show violence.
These people need to be reigned in and held accountable for what happened yesterday. pic.twitter.com/kRanvBxyZM
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 10, 2025
“We were there for a tour,” Watson-Coleman began, giving the impression that the “tour” was planned and they were supposed to be there. She then went on to say that they eventually got “access” to the facility, leaving out the fact that she and the others had waited until the gate opened for a vehicle transporting detainees and then charged past security.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin responded in a statement, saying, “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.”
Watson-Coleman went on to claim that the ICE agents had arrested Mayor Baraka after he walked out of the facility and was on public property — but Alina Habba, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, said that Baraka only left the facility when he was told he would be placed under arrest, after which ICE agents followed and placed him in handcuffs.
Watson-Coleman then conceded that she and Rep. Menendez had attempted to “shield” Baraka from the agents when they came to arrest him, but said that she didn’t “know anything about anybody hitting back at those large and weaponized officers” during the ensuing scuffle.
“ICE caused this chaos,” she insisted, claiming that anyone who said the protesters were at fault was lying because President Donald Trump had given everyone in his administration “permission to lie.”
The CNN anchor noted that ICE had promised to go public with body cam footage that showed protesters getting rough with the ICE agents.
“If there’s any such body — kind of footage, it is footage that is manufactured for this purpose,” Watson-Coleman said. “Because I said it before, and I’ll say it again, they are lying.”
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