Videos shared on social media show law enforcement clashing with protesters as demonstrators gathered outside a New Jersey detention center on Friday night.
Footage posted on X by Patrick Nealis shows agents working to clear protesters from the entrance to the Delaney Hall facility in Newark. At one point, two agents are seen grabbing and detaining one protester.
Moments later, several Newark Police vehicles are seen arriving at the scene and dozens of officers getting out.
“A coordinated effort from law enforcement just cleared the blockage in front of the main entrance to Delaney Hall enabling a vehicle to leave the facility,” Nealis wrote alongside the video. “In addition, it cleared the way for previously blocked vehicles to enter the side entrance.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) responded to that video on X, writing: “Our message to rioters is clear: you will NOT slow us down.” Earlier on Friday, DHS shared a video showing a masked protester being detained. “If you riot, you will be ARRESTED. We will NOT be deterred by these violent rioters,” DHS captioned the post.
DHS has been contacted for further comment via an email sent outside regular business hours.
The detention center has become a flashpoint for protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, with frequent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. Those demonstrations intensified in recent weeks as advocates said detainees inside launched a hunger strike over poor living conditions at the 1,000-bed facility. The federal government has denied allegations of substandard conditions and accused protesters of inflaming tensions.
Protesters have maintained a continuous presence outside the facility, attempting to obstruct the movement of vehicles and personnel entering and exiting the site.
Video Shows Protester Hit By Vehicle
Nealis also posted a video on Friday night showing a protester being thrown to the ground after being hit by a vehicle exiting the detention center. In the video, protesters can be seen trying to prevent several vehicles from leaving.
Some are seen rushing to help the person who fell to the ground after being hit. Others can be seen continuing to they to prevent other vehicles from leaving.
“After an extended standoff between officials and protesters; vehicles exiting Delaney Hall forced their way out,” Nealis wrote alongside the clip.” At least one member in the crowd appears to have been hit by an exiting vehicle.”
New Funding To Fight ICE Detainee Deportations
New Jersey Governor Mike Sherill, a Democrat, announced a $20 million funding for a state program that provides legal defense for immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
On Thursday, Sherill announced a $12 million increase in for the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative, bringing the total funding for the program to more than $20 million.
Sherrill said the additional funding will help low income families gain access to legal services, including detainees in Delaney Hall.
“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity, and to the rights enshrined in our Constitution—the rights I swore to protect when I served in Navy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and as an elected official. These include access to due process and a fair hearing under the law, regardless of where you were born,” Sherrill said in a statement.
“As the Trump Administration makes it more difficult for members of our community to challenge detention and deportation, access to qualified legal representation has never been more important. Here in New Jersey, we are helping ensure more New Jersey residents receive due process under the law and more New Jersey attorneys are mobilized to stand up for the fundamental human rights of detainees and their families.”
Sherrill also announced a new Rapid Legal Response Initiative to expand emergency immigration defense services statewide.
The initiative will “further expand statewide legal capacity for habeas corpus petitions and other federal litigation to support New Jersey residents directly impacted by federal immigration enforcement,” her office said in a news release.
New Jersey Police Sergeant Charged
A New Jersey police sergeant was charged with stealing $10,000 worth of cameras and other equipment from a photojournalist who had been injured while covering protests outside Delaney Hall.
Darryl Brown, a sergeant in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, was caught with the missing items after the photojournalist used a geo-tracking device to trace her missing gear to his home, the state’s attorney general said on Thursday.
The journalist, Angelina Katsanis, was on assignment for The Associated Press at Delaney Hall on May 30 when she was struck in the knee by a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators. As she hobbled to a medical tent to seek attention, Katsanis left behind her gear bag, which was marked with her name and contact information. When she was eventually allowed to return to the area—now in a wheelchair—the bag was gone.
“I checked my Airtag and the bag was already on a highway pretty far away at that point,” Katsanis recalled. “Right away, I had a feeling it was the police because they were the only ones with access to that area.”
As Katsanis sought treatment in a nearby hospital, the Airtag pinged to a home in Sparta, New Jersey, which was listed as belonging to Brown, according to the attorney general’s office. The device was later recovered on the side of a road, miles away from the home where it was initially taken.
A subsequent review of Brown’s body camera footage showed him “interacting” with the bag at the protest location, according to the attorney general’s office. A search warrant executed at his home Wednesday turned up several of the missing items, some bearing Katsanis’ name and phone number, the complaint said.
Brown faces charges of third-degree theft. He has been suspended without pay, according to the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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