Agency photojournalist targeted with pepper spray by federal officers

EPA Images photojournalist Olga Fedorova was targeted with chemical irritants by federal officers while covering protests outside a private immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 26, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall facility began May 22, when many detainees went on a hunger strike. Members of Congress, state and local lawmakers and rights groups have alleged dire conditions at the facility.

Federal officers responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests, as did state police in the days that followed.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was standing near independent photojournalist Mostafa Bassim and other members of the press when they were all doused with a chemical irritant.

“That was the most quintessential, undeniable instance of targeting someone,” she said, noting that officers purposefully aimed at the journalists’ cameras and into their ear canals.

“The agent was waiting to do this,” Fedorova continued. “Pepper spray is supposed to be used as self-defense, not to torture us.”

Fedorova said that their experience that day was far from an isolated incident.

“Every day, I think, every single member of the press was doused in pepper spray, like completely, completely covered in pepper spray,” she added.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 1, DHS said anyone who obstructs law enforcement or disrupts its operations would be prosecuted. It did not address its use of force against members of the press.

“We remind members of the media to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks,” the statement read. “Our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights.”