Conflicting reports amid ‘one big scuffle’ outside Delaney Hall

The weekend scenes outside Delaney Hall in Newark were chaotic as clashes intensified between protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. On Friday night, Gov. Mikie Sherrill assigned the State Police to control the crowds. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sent the city’s police officers to work with state troopers.

Journalists and protestors were forced to leave the area on Saturday night, and just before midnight, Baraka announced a 9 p.m.- 6 a.m. curfew within a half-mile radius of Delaney Hall. On Sunday night, many protesters were arrested for refusing to comply with the curfew.

“There were many protesters chanting at ICE with expletives, bad words, curse words,” said Daysi Calavia-Robertson, a columnist for NJ.com who was at Delaney Hall for most of the weekend. “There were times where it was just like one big scuffle — ICE agents, protesters, all kind of in a rumble.”

At one point, State Police and demonstrators grew heated.

“Governor Sherrill, the attorney general, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the lieutenant colonel of the State Police are saying that protesters engaged police first, that they were attacking them, that they were throwing things at them, that they tried to break through the barricade,” Calavia-Robertson said. “On the other side, we’re hearing protesters say, ‘No, it was the State Police who actually broke down the barricade.’ There is some video that we can see of that happening. Whether that was the initial encounter, we’re not sure.”

Calavia-Robertson is in contact with family of some detainees, who have reported poor conditions. The Trump administration denies those claims. The Department of Homeland Security terminated visitation during the weekend unrest, though has since reinstated it.

“For months, detainees have been sounding the alarm about the inhumane conditions inside the facility,” Calavia-Robertson said. “People who are elderly, who have diabetes — there’s people who have HIV inside the facility who aren’t getting the medical attention that they need. And so this is something that has had a lot of lead-up to what we’re seeing now and the unrest that we’re seeing outside the facility.”