Suspect accused of smashing up Alina Habba’s office while trying to confront her is arrested
The man suspected of smashing up the office of New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor Alina Habba and destroying her belongings has been arrested, officials said.
Keith Michael Lisa is accused of ransacking Habba’s office and trying to confront her, according to the FBI, which previously offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect.
Habba, formerly President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and now serving as Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, celebrated the arrest Saturday and praised Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“We got him,” Habba said in a post on X. “This [Department of Justice under [Bondi] and our federal partners will not tolerate any acts of intimidation or violence toward law enforcement.”
Habba also thanked the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service for their role in capturing a suspect. “Now justice will handle him,” she added.
“No one will get away with threatening or intimidating our great US Attorneys or the destruction of their offices,” Bondi said in a separate post.
The suspect first tried to get into Habba’s office inside a federal building in Newark with a bat, but security guards wouldn’t let him through, according to The New York Times, citing sources familiar with the matter.
He was later allowed to enter the building without the bat, but once on the floor of Habba’s office, he started shouting incoherently and smashing belongings, the outlet reported. It’s unclear what the suspect said during his alleged tirade.
Bondi told Fox News’ Sean Hannity Thursday night that “this guy had a full-size baseball bat pacing like a caged animal in front of her office.”
“Then ultimately, he gets up to her office without the bat, but manages to tear apart the front office,” she added.
“Mark my words, he will be in jail, and he will be prosecuted,” Bondi said.
Though it’s not yet clear whether the man was targeting Habba specifically, and why, the incident appears to mark the latest instance of violent threats against political figures in the United States — a streak that has included two assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 election cycle and the fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk two months ago.
Democratic officials have also been targeted, including an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence in April and the assassinations of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman in June.
Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman were also shot by the gunman but survived the attack.
John Hoffman underwent surgery this week for injuries he sustained in the terrifying ordeal.
Habba, whose appointment to office sparked a legal showdown between the Trump administration and the state’s federal judges, has been serving as the top prosecutor in New Jersey “without lawful authority,” according to a federal judge.
The Justice Department accused the federal judiciary of politically motivated attempt to oust her, though Habba has faced allegations of launching politically motivated stunts of her own.
Her office has announced investigations into New Jersey’s Democratic leadership and filed criminal charges against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Her office dropped the latter case but is continuing a criminal prosecution of charged Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver.
Rachel Dobkin and Alex Woodward contributed reporting
