Documentarian fired at with crowd-control munition during New Jersey protest

Documentary photographer Adriano Kalin was targeted by state police with a flash-bang grenade that landed at his feet during a protest outside a private immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility began May 22, when many detainees went on a hunger strike. Members of Congress, state and local lawmakers and rights groups have alleged dire conditions at the facility.

Federal officers responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests, as did state police in the days that followed. The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

Kalin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the May 30 protest as state police pushed protesters and press away from Delaney Hall. Some officers were mounted on horseback. Others, wielding riot shields, formed a line and advanced on the crowd.

Kalin said he was wearing press credentials, a helmet and a vest identifying him as a member of the media. Footage he posted on Instagram shows a dense cloud of tear gas being deployed around him as he coughs.

“I can’t breathe,” he says in the video, gasping. Moments later, a flash-bang grenade detonates near his feet, and Kalin groans. The footage shows he was standing near several other members of the press at the time.

“It was very much intentional,” Kalin said. “I didn’t say anything to warrant them throwing a flash bang in my direction.”

The munition left Kalin’s ears ringing. He was so disoriented that he stopped documenting the demonstration and retreated from the area for about 20 minutes. Kalin said he never heard officers declare an unlawful assembly despite the use of crowd-control munitions and tear gas.

“The fact that they did throw something at me was very much a violation of my constitutional rights,” Kalin said.

The New Jersey State Police Office of Public Information did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

In a statement posted to X early May 31, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport wrote that state and local law enforcement had responded to “aggressive actions” outside Delaney Hall. She also announced that a curfew would be in place around the facility until further notice. It did not address the use of force against members of the press.