A freelance photojournalist, who asked not to be identified because of their immigration status, was sprayed with chemical irritants and hit with a baton by federal officers, damaging their camera flash, while covering protests outside a private immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on May 28, 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.
The photojournalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were on assignment for a wire agency covering protests outside the facility that day. The photographer noted that they were sprayed with a chemical irritant, but could not say whether they had been deliberately targeted.
While they were standing alongside fellow photographers Mostafa Bassim and Ryan Murphy, they said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers charged them.
“All three of us were hit in the same rush,” the photojournalist said. “An agent came and aimed at our cameras. He hit the top of my camera, and smashed and broke my flash transmitter with his baton.”
The photojournalist told the Tracker he believes the same officer struck Murphy’s hand, sending his flash flying and causing a deep gash in his middle finger, while a second sliced Bassim’s lens in half.
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.”
This content originally appeared on U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database and was authored by U.S. Press Freedom Tracker: Incident Database.