Photojournalist trampled, shoulder injured at New Jersey immigration protest

Freelance photojournalist Edna Leshowitz fell to the ground and was trampled, injuring her shoulder, while covering a protest outside an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 27, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall 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. The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

Federal officers responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests, as did state police in the days that followed.

Leshowitz and other journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the protest followed a consistent pattern. Periods of calm would last until law enforcement vehicles tried to leave the facility, and protesters would move to block the cars from leaving. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers would respond by advancing into the crowd and pushing demonstrators back.

“I’ve never seen it that violent,” said Leshowitz, who was wearing press credentials. “They see all of us as the enemy.”

At one point, ICE officers suddenly surged toward the crowd, raising their batons as though they were preparing to strike. Protesters and journalists scrambled backward in panic. As she photographed the scene, Leshowitz lost her footing and fell.

As she lay on the ground, she could hear the sound of boots around her. Three people retreating with the crowd stepped on her before someone pulled her to safety.

Leshowitz said she suffered scrapes to her elbow and knee. She also suffered a partially torn rotator cuff when she tried to break her fall with her left arm. Doctors told her she will need physical therapy and may require surgery.

When working, Leshowitz now relies more heavily on her right arm and feels pain that worsens by the end of the day.

“I need to raise both arms above my head a lot for certain shots,” she said. “It’s tough to have to work around it and be left with a long-term injury.”

At another protest outside Delaney Hall days later, a flash-bang grenade fired by state police landed on her head.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 1, DHS said anyone who obstructs law enforcement or disrupts its operations would be prosecuted. It did not address its use of force against members of the press.

“We remind members of the media to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks,” the statement read. “Our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights.”