Man Arrested After Appearing at Alina Habba's Office With Bat, U.S. Says [View all]

Source: New York Times

Man Arrested After Appearing at Alina Habba’s Office With Bat, U.S. Says

Authorities said Keith Michael Lisa had a bat when he showed up at the office of the U.S. attorney for New Jersey on Wednesday. He was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon in a federal facility.


The aggression with which the Justice Department pursued the suspect was somewhat unusual, given that no evidence that he threatened Ms. Habba specifically has been publicly released. Kenny Holston/The New York Times

By Maia Coleman
https://www.nytimes.com/by/maia-coleman
Nov. 15, 2025
Updated 12:50 p.m. ET

Law enforcement officials said on Saturday that they had arrested a man who earlier this week brought a bat to the office of Alina Habba, the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey. ... The man, Keith Michael Lisa, 51, was taken into federal custody on Friday night, two days after he appeared outside Ms. Habba’s Newark office, according to a spokeswoman for the F.B.I.

He was charged with depredation of federal property, as well as possession of a dangerous weapon in a federal facility. It is possible that the latter crime may be charged as an attempted crime, as Mr. Lisa arrived with the bat but did not bring it inside the building.

The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, announced the arrest in a social media post on Saturday, thanking a slate of federal agencies who had assisted her office. “No one will get away with threatening or intimidating our great US Attorneys or the destruction of their offices,” she wrote.

The aggression with which the Justice Department pursued Mr. Lisa was somewhat unusual, given that no evidence that he threatened Ms. Habba specifically has been publicly released. Ms. Bondi posted on social media about the case twice, and her deputy, Todd Blanche, also acknowledged it. The F.B.I. released a wanted poster for Mr. Lisa on Friday evening, offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to his arrest.

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Jonah E. Bromwich and Tracey Tully contributed reporting.

Maia Coleman is a reporter for The Times covering the New York Police Department and criminal justice in the New York area.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/maia-coleman

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/nyregion/alina-habba-us-attorney-arrest-bat.html