U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce was among only four Republican House members to vote against a GOP-led effort to censure a Democratic congresswoman arrested during a confrontation with law enforcement outside a New Jersey immigration detention center — resulting in the measure’s defeat.

The resolution to censure U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-New Jersey, would have removed her from the House Committee on Homeland Security.

A Democratic-led effort to table the motion passed 215-207 Wednesday with four Republicans voting to table the motion and two others voting present. U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, initially voted in favor of the Democratic motion and then later submitted a correction reversing his vote.

Joyce, whose district includes all of Trumbull County, said of his vote: “Everyone is entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. This matter is currently being adjudicated in the courts and is publicly before the House Ethics Committee. As a former (Geauga County) prosecutor and a former member of the Ethics Committee, I fully trust both of these bodies to deal with this issue in a just manner.”

Joyce, R-Bainbridge, added: “When the Ethics Committee finishes its report or if she pleads or is found guilty in court of law then she should resign or be removed. I believe we should allow these processes to play out and get back to governing.”

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Louisiana, had sponsored the McIver censure proposal.

McIver was among a number of Democratic officials seeking to visit a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 9 when federal agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for trespassing. That charge was dropped.

Federal prosecutors accused McIver of striking an officer with her forearm and grabbing another.

McIver was subsequently charged federally with three criminal counts of assaulting or impeding federal agents. She’s pleaded not guilty and Democrats call the charges politically motivated.

In response to the failed censure vote, McIver said: “If House Republicans think they can make me run scared, they’re wrong.”