WASHINGTON, May 10, (AP): Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was released after spending several hours in custody following his arrest at a new federal immigration detention center he has been protesting against. Baraka was accused of trespassing and ignoring warnings to leave the Delaney Hall facility and was finally released around 8 pm Friday.

Stepping out of an SUV with flashing emergency lights, he told waiting supporters: "The reality is this: I didn't do anything wrong.” The mayor said he could not speak about his case, citing a promise he made to lawyers and the judge. But he voiced full-throated support for everyone living in his community, immigrants included.

"All of us here, every last one of us, I don’t care what background you come from, what nationality, what language you speak,” Baraka said, "at some point we have to stop these people from causing division between us.” Baraka, a Democrat who is running to succeed term-limited Gov Phil Murphy, has embraced the fight with the Trump administration over illegal immigration. He has aggressively pushed back against the construction and opening of the 1,000-bed detention center, arguing that it should not be allowed to open because of building permit issues.

Linda Baraka, the mayor’s wife, accused the federal government of targeting her husband. "They didn’t arrest anyone else. They didn’t ask anyone else to leave. They wanted to make an example out of the mayor,” she said, adding that she had not been allowed to see him. Alina Habba, interim US attorney for New Jersey, said on the social platform X that Baraka trespassed at the detention facility, which is run by private prison operator Geo Group.

Habba said Baraka had "chosen to disregard the law.” Video of the incident showed that Baraka was arrested after returning to the public side of the gate to the facility. Witnesses said the arrest came after Baraka attempted to join three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Reps. Robert Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, in attempting to enter the facility.

When federal officials blocked his entry, a heated argument broke out, according to Viri Martinez, an activist with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. It continued even after Baraka returned to the public side of the gates. "There was yelling and pushing,” Martinez said. "Then the officers swarmed Baraka. They threw one of the organizers to the ground. They put Baraka in handcuffs and put him in an unmarked car.”