NEWARK, N.J. — A person has been arrested after federal officers alleged that he destroyed property whereas making an attempt to confront New Jersey’s prime federal prosecutor, Alina Habba.
Keith Michael Lisa, 51, has been arrested, FBI spokesperson Emily Molinari confirmed Saturday.
Molinari didn’t say when or the place Lisa was arrested, what costs he may face, whether or not he was in jail, or when he may go earlier than a decide. It is unclear whether or not Lisa is represented by a lawyer. The federal public defender in Newark didn’t instantly reply to an piece of email Saturday asking whether or not it was representing Lisa.
The FBI on Friday had supplied a reward of as much as $25,000 for details about Lisa, saying he was wished on costs of destroying authorities property and possession of a harmful weapon inside a U.S. court docket facility. That bulletin stated Lisa tried to enter a federal workplace constructing in downtown Newark on Wednesday with a bat and was turned away. Lisa returned with out the bat, the bulletin stated, and was admitted. He then went to the U.S. Lawyer’s workplace, the place Habba works, and destroyed property, the bulletin stated.
Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi wrote in a publish on X on Saturday that the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Safety Investigations had labored collectively to arrest Lisa.
“Nobody will get away with threatening or intimidating our nice U.S. attorneys or the destruction of their workplaces,” Bondi wrote.
Habba was beforehand President Donald Trump’s private lawyer, representing him in varied instances and performing as his spokesperson on authorized issues. She served as a White Home adviser briefly earlier than Trump named her as interim U.S. legal professional in March.
“We obtained him,” Habba wrote on X on Saturday. “This Justice Division below Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi and our federal companions won’t tolerate any acts of intimidation or violence towards legislation enforcement. So grateful to the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Safety Investigations for his or her tireless work to seize him. Now justice will deal with him.”
Bondi had vowed that federal officers would discover and prosecute the individual, writing earlier that “Any violence or threats of violence towards any federal officer won’t be tolerated. Interval.”
Trump formally nominated Habba as New Jersey’s everlasting U.S. legal professional on July 1, however the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim opposed it, stalling the affirmation course of.
A couple of weeks later, as Habba’s 120-day interim appointment was expiring, New Jersey federal judges moved to exchange her along with her second-in-command. Bondi then fired that prosecutor and renamed Habba as performing U.S. legal professional.
Final month, the third U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals heard arguments in a case difficult her appointment. It hasn’t dominated.