Press targeted at New Jersey immigration detention protests

In a span of three weeks in late May and June, we documented more than 60 assaults of journalists and a dozen cameras and other equipment damaged — mainly by law enforcement — alongside other press freedom aggressions as journalists covered protests at Newark, New Jersey’s Delaney Hall immigration detention facility. At least 12 journalists were targeted with pepper spray.

The demonstrations, which began May 22 in support of a hunger strike over alleged poor conditions at Delaney Hall, were met with a forceful response from federal, state and local officers.

On May 31, three journalists were violently arrested outside Delaney Hall.

Videographer Theoren Papp told the Tracker that law enforcement kettled, or encircled, the crowd shortly after the area’s 9 p.m. curfew. When he tried to leave the kettle, his Level 12 Media badge was met with indifference, he said, and he wasn’t allowed to leave.

Same for independent reporter Chuck Modiano, who was wearing a press vest and identified himself as a journalist to officers, but didn’t have his credentials with him. “It seemed like it was very arbitrary,” Modiano said of the rules officers were using to determine who could leave.

Another independent reporter, Yaakov Strasberg, carried a bag labeled press — but without formal credentials, he also wasn’t allowed to leave the kettle. “They didn’t bother to check anything, they just said, ‘You’re not real press, you can’t leave,’” Strasberg told the Tracker.

As officers began arresting those inside the kettle, Papp, Modiano and Strasberg all were forced to the ground. “They grabbed me from behind and slammed me,” Modiano said.

Strasberg said officers assaulted him while he was on the ground. “I still had my hands up, and one of them just punched me in the face,” he said.

Papp also described the police’s unnecessary use of force. “Two officers dragged me, threw me on the ground and zip-tied my hands behind my back,” he said. For days after his arrest, the videographer had limited mobility in one hand and bruising on both wrists due to the tightness of the zip ties.

The journalists each face a failure to disperse charge; their court hearings are scheduled for August.

On June 22, advocates of the detainees said the hunger strike had effectively ended — a result of intimidation and retaliation inside the facility, not improved conditions.

Covering championships

Knicks in five: During the New York Knicks’ historic run for the NBA championship, a journalist was assaulted when the crowd turned disorderly and violent following their Game 3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Dean Moses, amNewYork’s police bureau chief and photographer, was pushed by a police officer and doused with pepper spray at a watch party in Manhattan’s Bryant Park on June 8. The New York City Police Department said 21 people were arrested that evening.

2026 FIFA World Cup: With the Men’s World Cup moving into elimination matches this week across Mexico, Canada and the U.S., journalists can read advice from FPF’s digital security team on keeping devices safe while crossing borders. And read our in-depth Tracker analysis on what’s driving concerns for reporters arriving from across the globe as they cover this massive sporting event.

Other notable Tracker updates

• On June 23, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause an $800-per-day fine against journalist Catherine Herridge, who was found in contempt of court in 2024 for not revealing confidential sources. Herridge was subpoenaed in 2022 for information about a series of investigative reports she published five years earlier for Fox News. Her attorneys filed an emergency appeal, and the Supreme Court stayed enforcement of the fine on June 26.
• On June 8 — exactly one year after she was shot in the back of the leg with a crowd-control munition during a live broadcast — Lauren Tomasi, a correspondent for Australia’s 9News, filed a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles and an unnamed LA Police Department officer. The incident was captured live by 9News. The suit references the LAPD’s dismal track record of violations against the press during protests; the Tracker has documented more than 40 such assaults of journalists by law enforcement in the city this year alone.
• On June 4, a sergeant with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey was charged with theft after equipment belonging to photojournalist Angelina Katsanis was tracked to his home. Katsanis had been on assignment for The Associated Press covering protests at Delaney Hall on May 30 when she was injured by a projectile. As she sought medical attention, her bag with gear — camera, lenses, battery packs and other equipment worth around $10,000 — went missing. An AirTag later led police to the home of the officer, who had been on duty at the Delaney Hall area that day.