Photojournalist struck with riot shields by New Jersey state police

Photojournalist and filmmaker Will Allen-DuPraw was shoved with riot shields and subjected to crowd-control munitions while covering protests outside a detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 29, 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.

Allen-DuPraw told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was on assignment for Status Coup on May 29, the day that New Jersey State Patrol officers first became involved.

“Riot police were moving forward in their line, and I think a protester tripped or fell, ending up behind the police and was getting arrested,” he said. “I was trying to photograph that, and the police line just kind of kept advancing and eventually made contact with me.”

In footage of the incident Allen-DuPraw posted to Instagram, three officers with riot shields are seen forming a line while multiple others behind them detain an individual on the ground, then drag that person further behind the police line.

Suddenly, the three officers rush forward, each seeming to strike Allen-DuPraw with their shields.

“The line of riot police encountered me and treated me like any other obstacle,” Allen-DuPraw told the Tracker. He added that he didn’t experience any bruising from the incident.

Allen-DuPraw was also exposed to multiple crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and stun grenades, while covering the protests and police response that night.

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.