Judge Tosses Newark Mayor's Lawsuit Against Ex-Prosecutor For Arrest At ICE Jail

By Dana DiFilippo and Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

September 8, 2026

A federal judge has dismissed the libel lawsuit Newark Mayor Ras Baraka filed last year against Alina Habba, the former top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, over comments she made on social media and TV about his botched arrest outside Delaney Hall.

In a decision released Friday, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti said Habba was acting within her scope as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey when she accused Baraka on social media and during a Fox News interview of illegal trespass and “grandstanding” during the May 9, 2025, visit to the federal migrant jail in Newark during which he was arrested.

“Making a public statement about potential criminal activity within a prosecutor’s jurisdiction falls within the ambit of a prosecutor’s employment,” Martinotti wrote. “Habba’s use of social media and her participation in media interviews to address criminal activity in New Jersey falls within the spatial limits of her employment as the interim United States Attorney for District of New Jersey.”

Baraka also failed to seek relief first from the Department of Justice, which the Federal Tort Claims Act requires, before filing his lawsuit, wrote Martinotti, an Obama appointee.

But the judge also said he wasn’t ruling on the merits of Baraka’s libel claims. He left the door open for the mayor to renew his claims, dismissing the case without prejudice. That means Baraka can amend and refile his complaint if he addresses the judge’s concerns, and Martinotti gave him 21 days to do so.

It’s unclear if he will. His attorney and city spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Baraka sued Habba and Ricky Patel, the special agent in charge of the Newark Division of Homeland Security Investigations, for false arrest and malicious prosecution in June 2025, a few weeks after Patel ordered armed, masked immigration agents to “take him down” during a tense visit Baraka made to Delaney Hall.

Three Democratic members of Congress — Reps. LaMonica McIver, Rob Menendez, and Bonnie Watson Coleman — also were there that day to inspect the prison, and McIver had asked Baraka to attend their post-inspection news conference.

After he arrived, a prison guard invited Baraka onto prison grounds past the fenced perimeter, where protesters had gathered. He waited there until Patel directed him to leave the fenced area about 45 minutes later, and even though he complied, the agents arrested him five minutes later, charged him with trespass, and held him in federal custody for five hours.

Ten days later, prosecutors dropped the charge and a federal judge scolded them for the “hasty arrest” and “embarrassing retraction” of the charge.

Baraka, a Democrat who was running for governor at the time of his arrest, accused Habba and Patel of political motivations. When Habba announced she was dropping the trespassing charge against Baraka, she filed criminal charges against McIver, accusing her of assaulting federal agents as they arrested Baraka. The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals last month rejected McIver’s bid to avoid trial on two of the three charges she faces.

Habba resigned in December after another judge disqualified her from the post.

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