Incident details
- Date of incident
- May 31, 2026
- Location
- Newark, New Jersey
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
A protester being arrested by officers outside an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 31, 2026. Multiple journalists, including independent reporter Marcos Quinones, reported that officers shoved them that day.
Independent journalist Marcos Quinones was shoved at least twice by state police while covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its treatment of detainees in Newark, New Jersey, on May 31, 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.
Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on May 31, the first night of an enforced curfew, he was shoved by state police at least twice, despite wearing his press credentials and following officers’ orders.
“It was definitely targeted. I haven’t seen very many people get within arm’s distance of them and not get shoved or assaulted in some kind of way,” Quinones said in an interview.
Quinones felt that police officers treated members of the press the same as protesters. “As soon as you come within arm’s distance of them and you’re not wearing a uniform, people are a target in their eyes,” he said.
Asked whether his experiences at Delaney Hall would change the way he covered protests, Quinones told the Tracker that he would be maintaining a two-meter distance from the nearest police officers when he was reporting in New Jersey.
“Jersey is not the place you want to get in trouble,” he 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 30, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport wrote that state police were clearing the area outside Delaney Hall because a small number of people were blocking the pathway for law enforcement vehicles. It did not address the use of force against members of the press.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
