violent clashes – Videos shared on social media show law enforcement clashing with protesters outside Delaney Hall in Newark during a Friday night demonstration at the New Jersey detention center, including arrests and reports of a protester being struck by an exiting vehicle.
Newark’s Delaney Hall became the center of a tense, fast-moving standoff on Friday night, with videos posted online showing protesters and law enforcement colliding outside the entrance to the detention facility.
Footage shared on X by Patrick Nealis shows agents working to clear protesters from the entrance. In one moment, two agents are seen grabbing and detaining a protester. Shortly afterward. dozens of Newark Police vehicles arrive and dozens of officers get out as the scene escalates near the main gate.
Nealis wrote alongside the video that law enforcement “cleared the blockage in front of the main entrance to Delaney Hall enabling a vehicle to leave the facility,” and that it also cleared the way for “previously blocked vehicles to enter the side entrance.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, responded directly to the post on X with a message aimed at protesters. “Our message to rioters is clear: you will NOT slow us down.” Earlier on Friday. DHS shared a separate video showing a masked protester being detained. In that post, DHS captioned: “If you riot, you will be ARRESTED. We will NOT be deterred by these violent rioters.”.
DHS has been contacted for further comment via an email sent outside regular business hours.
The demonstrations outside Delaney Hall have been a flashpoint for protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. with frequent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. In recent weeks, 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.
Nealis later posted another video on Friday night showing a protester thrown to the ground after being hit by a vehicle exiting the detention center. In the clip. protesters are seen trying to prevent several vehicles from leaving. rushing to help the person who fell. while others continue moving to stop additional vehicles from departing. Nealis wrote alongside the video that after an extended standoff “vehicles exiting Delaney Hall forced their way out.” He also wrote: “At least one member in the crowd appears to have been hit by an exiting vehicle.”.
The violence and arrests have played out alongside a separate. parallel effort by state officials to address the legal fights that follow detention and deportation proceedings. On Friday. New Jersey Governor Mike Sherill. a Democrat. announced $20 million in funding for a state program that provides legal defense for immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
Sherill announced a $12 million increase in the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative on Thursday. bringing the total funding for the program to more than $20 million. Sherill said the additional funding will help low-income families gain access to legal services, including detainees in Delaney Hall.
In a statement. Sherill said: “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.”.
She added: “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.”.
Sherill also announced a new Rapid Legal Response Initiative to expand emergency immigration defense services statewide. Her office said 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.”.
Not all the developments around Delaney Hall have been on the front lines. On Thursday, a New Jersey police sergeant was charged with stealing $10,000 worth of cameras and other equipment from a photojournalist 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 photojournalist Angelina Katsanis used a geo-tracking device to trace her missing gear to his home, according to the state’s attorney general.
Katsanis. who was on assignment for The Associated Press at Delaney Hall on May 30. was struck in the knee by a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators. While she hobbled to a medical tent to seek attention. Katsanis said she left behind her gear bag 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, 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.
The attorney general’s office said a subsequent review of Brown’s body camera footage showed him “interacting” with the bag at the protest location. 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, and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said he has been suspended without pay.
The sequence of events around Delaney Hall has left little room for doubt about the stakes: protesters have tried to stop vehicles and personnel from entering and exiting the facility. law enforcement has moved to clear blockages and make arrests. and the confrontation has reached moments where people in the crowd say they were struck.
With New Jersey stepping up funding for legal defense and emergency immigration litigation, the fight over what happens inside the detention center and what happens in court afterward continues—on the streets outside as well as in the legal system that follows.
Delaney Hall ICE protest Newark DHS U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Mike Sherill detention deportation defense initiative hunger strike Angelina Katsanis Darryl Brown third-degree theft habeas corpus