NJ Gov Mikie Sherrill blames outside agitators for violence at Delaney Hall anti-ICE protests

NEWARK, NJ: New Jersey Gov Mikie Sherrill blamed out-of-state agitators after violent clashes erupted outside an ICE detention center in Newark.

Sherrill said five of the six people arrested Friday night near Delaney Hall were not New Jersey residents. State police identified the arrested out-of-staters as people from New York and Pennsylvania.

Mikie Sherrill warns protesters

“To the people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations: You should not be here,” Sherrill said during a Saturday press conference.

“You are not helping the people detained at Delaney Hall, you are not helping detainee families and you are certainly not keeping New Jersey safe,” she added.

The clashes broke out after New Jersey State Police moved to clear the area outside the immigration detention center Friday night. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said protesters deployed fireworks and threw gas canisters at officers.

Davenport said police had been trying to secure safe passage for vehicles entering and leaving Delaney Hall when “a limited number did not comply with repeated requests to clear a safe passage for the vehicles and took dangerous action.”

Conservative influencer Cam Higby also posted videos to X showing protesters moving barricades and blocking vehicles with concrete barriers. Higby claimed he had “cold-cocked” someone who grabbed his phone before protesters smashed his equipment.

Protest tensions escalate

Sherrill had earlier announced that state police would take over crowd control from ICE and establish a “peaceful protest zone” outside Delaney Hall to lower tensions.

But some protesters said the police response only escalated the situation.

“It was bizarre. I didn't understand what was going on,” Kathy O’Leary of the Eyes on ICE coalition said after witnessing Friday night's confrontation, as per the Gothamist.

“Up until the point when we saw the riot police with their riot shields, I thought we were gonna be okay,” she added.

Norma Bowe, a nurse who said ICE officers shoved her during an earlier protest, said she initially believed the increased state police presence would improve safety.

“I thought [the state police presence] was going to be a good thing,” Bowe said. “But as you can see, it's actually escalated the situation.”

Mikie Sherill defended state police deployment 

Sherrill defended the state police deployment Saturday morning, saying an “increased ICE surge” near Delaney Hall had become “a threat to public safety”.

“This was absolutely necessary to protect public safety, and avoid escalation from ICE,” she said while also urging demonstrators to continue protesting peacefully.

The No ICE in North Jersey Alliance, a coalition of community and civil rights groups, pushed back against the newly established “protected protest” zones, arguing they could stop the public from documenting detainee transfers and alleged confrontations involving ICE agents.

“We need to be focused not only on the protest outside Delaney Hall, but the unlawful action taking place inside Delaney Hall,” coalition cofounder William Angus said, according to the source.