Newark Mayor Ras Baraka ordered a curfew Sunday at the federal immigration-detention facility in his New Jersey city where several protesters have been arrested in violent scrums with police.
The curfew at Delaney Hall runs from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., the mayor said, as protest rallies over the treatment of detainees inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding center have devolved into chaos in recent days.
Federal authorities said they arrested six people on charges of assaulting law enforcement officers following Thursday night’s combative demonstrations. Protesters donning face coverings blocked the road and fought with police while hurling projectiles at the officers.
“Last night, a violent rioter savagely kicked and bit ICE law enforcement officers outside of Delaney Hall,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin wrote Friday on X. “Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The Department of Justice said it charged Brendan John Geier, 26, in the attack that left three officers with bloody bite wounds on their arms.
Another protester was captured on video saying “I’ll kill your whole family,” and “your children, your wife, all dead” amid a stream of vulgarities.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Friday he promised to arrest the protester, who was unidentified at the time.
Federal agents took Nicholas Matthew Scelfo, 27, into custody in connection with the threat charges later that night.
“Told you. The FBI just arrested the man who threatened to kill ICE officers and their families. FAFO,” Mr. Blanche posted Friday on X.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who sent in state police troopers to help with crowd control outside the facility, blamed out-of-state residents for stirring trouble at Delaney Hall.
“To the people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations: You should not be here,” the Democratic governor said at a Saturday afternoon press conference.
“You are not helping the people detained at Delaney Hall, you are not helping detainee families and you are certainly not keeping New Jersey safe,” she said.
State police said five of the six people arrested last week were from out of state, albeit from next-door New York and Pennsylvania.
Advocates organized the protests at the detention center because family members of some detainees said their relatives were being mistreated. The activists accuse ICE of providing shoddy accommodations, limiting access to medical and legal assistance, and serving food with worms in it.
“Unrest within Delaney Hall is directly related to its rampant inhumane conditions and the Trump administration’s refusal to dedicate appropriate resources for basic human needs like food and health care,” Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said in a statement.
Private contractor GEO Group, which operates the holding facility, denied accusations that detainees were being mistreated and called them “part of a coordinated, politically motivated campaign” by organizations that don’t support immigration enforcement.
