Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba’s office was violently vandalized Wednesday evening by a person who earlier in the day had been denied entry to the building because he had a baseball bat, two law enforcement sources said.
The person, who has not yet been identified, returned to the building without the bat and was allowed to enter.
In Habba’s waiting room, he requested and was denied a meeting with the acting U.S. attorney, the sources said. He then began smashing things in the waiting area before fleeing the scene.
The person has not been apprehended.
Habba addressed the incident in a statement on X Thursday afternoon.
“I will not be intimidated by radical lunatics for doing my job,” Habba said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in her own X post Thursday the person “destroyed property in her office, and then fled the scene.”
“Thankfully, Alina is ok,” Bondi wrote. “Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period.”
The New York Times was first to report that the person tried to enter Habba’s office with a bat.
Habba, a former personal attorney to President Trump, has served as the Justice Department’s top prosecutor in New Jersey since March. The president initially nominated her to be New Jersey’s Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney, but later withdrew her nomination and kept her in the role on an acting basis, a move that has faced some legal pushback.