This story was reported by NJ Monitor, a nonprofit publishing partner of NJ Spotlight News.
A man who works at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall and charged with striking a protester with his car on June 21 blamed demonstrators for causing him to hit the woman, court records show.
Video of the Father’s Day incident, showing the red 2023 Dodge Challenger hitting a woman and knocking her down, spread quickly online. Delaney Hall, owned by Boca Raton, Fla.-based Geo Group, has been the site of near-daily protests in the last month.
Thomas K. Brown of Newark told police that when he started driving onto the property around 2 p.m. Sunday, protesters hit the driver’s side of his car. So he accelerated into the parking lot, striking a protester who had been dancing in front of the parking lot gate and waving an upside-down American flag.
Brown told police he did not know he had hit the woman until he entered the jail and saw the video circulating online. Then he notified his supervisors, according to the complaint.
The woman, who was among the numerous protesters for a Father’s Day rally, was brought to University Hospital in Newark, where police documented bumps and bruises on her body, the complaint states.
Brown was charged with assault by auto and issued a traffic ticket for reckless driving, Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said Wednesday.
“I commend the diligence of our detectives for quickly identifying this suspect and ensuring that he faces criminal charges for recklessly injuring a peaceful protester,” Miranda said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful that the victim’s condition is stable and that she rightfully reported the incident to police.”
Brown is expected to appear in court in Newark on Aug. 5.
Demonstrators have regularly gathered on Doremus Avenue outside Delaney Hall for weeks, spurred by a hunger and labor strike launched by hundreds of detainees to bring attention to conditions inside. Advocates said last week that people beingheld ended the hunger strike due to disciplinary actions taken by the guards.
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