A man who works at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall charged with striking a protester with his car outside the facility Sunday blamed protesters for causing him to hit the woman, court records say.
Video of the Father’s Day incident showing the red 2023 Dodge Challenger hitting a woman and knocking her down spread quickly online over the weekend. Delaney Hall, owned by private firm Geo Group, has been the site of near-daily protests in the last month.
Thomas K. Brown, of Newark, the man charged in the June 21 crash, told police when he started driving onto the jail property at about 2 p.m. Sunday, protesters began hitting the driver’s side of his car, so he accelerated into the facility’s parking lot, striking a protester who had been dancing in front of the parking lot gate 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, and then he notified his supervisors, according to the complaint.
The woman, who was among the numerous protesters outside the facility that day for a Father’s Day rally, was taken 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 Emanual 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 earlier this week that detainees have ended the hunger strike due to disciplinary actions taken by the guards.
