Who is Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and why was he arrested?
- Newark, New Jersey Mayor Ras Baraka was briefly arrested at an ICE detention center.
- The arrest occurred during an unannounced inspection by members of New Jersey's congressional delegation.
- Baraka, a Democratic NJ gubernatorial candidate, was released hours later.
(This story has been updated to reflect new information and photos.)
The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, a Democrat who is running for governor, was arrested on Friday at a privately run federal immigration detention center while three U.S. lawmakers were on site for an unannounced inspection, officials said.
Mayor Ras Baraka was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a scuffle at the gate to the ICE facility in Newark during the visit by three members of New Jersey's congressional delegation, according to a spokesperson for one of them, U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman.
Just before 8 p.m. ET, Baraka was released, according to a post from Coleman's office.
According to the City of Newark website, Baraka has been the mayor since 2014, being reelected in 2018 and 2022. Before becoming mayor, Baraka served on the Municipal Council of Newark between 2005 and 2014.
Baraka is also one of six Democratic candidates running in the primary for governor this year. Known as a staunch progressive, the mayor has also been a vocal critic of Trump, calling out the administration following ICE raids in Newark.
"They don’t have to go too far to look for criminals. They just need to go to the Oval Office because there’s a criminal in the Oval Office," Baraka said in his recent campaign ad.
Who is the father of Mayor Ras Baraka?
Baraka's father is poet and activist Amiri Baraka. Baraka was a central figure of the Black Arts Literary Movement — the cultural auxiliary to the 1960s Black Power movement, according to NorthJersey.com, part of the Paste BN Network.
"He was one of the foundational figures of the Black Arts movement," poet John Keene told the outlet. "There's that profound sense of Black pride, a sense of creating one's own institutions and autonomy, and not looking to the white publishing world for validation."
Baraka's mother, Amina Baraka, was active in the Black Arts Movement, according to the Poetry Foundation.
"In her poems, Baraka engages themes of social justice, family, and feminism," the foundation said.
Contributing: Ricardo Kaulessar and Eduardo Cuevas, Paste BN; Reuters
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.