Independent reporter arrested, punched by police at New Jersey protest

Independent reporter Yaakov Strasberg was arrested and hit in the face by police while documenting a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its treatment of detainees in Newark, New Jersey, on May 31, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention 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.

Police — some dressed in riot gear, others mounted on horseback — moved to clear demonstrators outside Delaney Hall before the city’s curfew on May 31, Strasberg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Strasberg, who primarily posts videos to YouTube and X, then found himself trapped inside a police kettle, a tactic used by law enforcement to contain crowds.

About 10 minutes later, police announced that credentialed journalists could leave the kettle and reviewed press credentials individually. Although Strasberg was carrying a bag labeled press, he did not have a formal credential and was told to remain inside the kettle.

“They didn’t bother to check anything, they just said, ’You’re not real press, you can’t leave,” Strasberg said. “They did let a bunch of press leave. I have no idea why I was targeted.”

Strasberg said he had repeatedly identified himself as a journalist to officers throughout the evening and earlier in the day while covering the protest, and that some officers had previously acknowledged him as press. While kettled, he showed officers his social media accounts, videos he had recorded and examples of past coverage on his phone.

“I continuously tried to get my way out of there, but they couldn’t care less,” Strasberg said.

When it became clear he would be arrested, Strasberg said he complied with the officers’ commands. Instead, officers forced him to the ground.

“I still had my hands up, and one of them just punched me in the face,” Strasberg recalled.

The blow left one side of Strasberg’s face badly swollen, making it difficult to open his eye. During the arrest, Strasberg’s glasses fell off and were stepped on by an officer, though Strasberg said he does not know whether that was intentional. Despite his facial injuries, he said he was denied medical treatment for more than seven hours.

Strasberg also said officers fastened his zip-tie restraints so tightly that they cut off circulation to his hands, made his wrists sore for days and left “a bit of a scar” on one wrist more than a week later. When the restraints were removed after a couple of hours, even law enforcement appeared surprised by how tight they were, Strasberg said.

After his arrest, Strasberg and at least two other journalists were taken to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, operated by the sheriff’s office.

He said authorities confiscated roughly $2,000 worth of his equipment, including his iPhone, camera bag, gas mask, battery packs and AirPods. Strasberg said officials told him the phone had been lost or misplaced, but a Google tracking service indicated it was still at the jail. He has not recovered his equipment and was forced to purchase a new phone.

According to Strasberg, the New Jersey State Police made the arrest, while Newark police are listed as filing the charges. He was charged with riot and resisting arrest, and was released the following day. His next court date is Aug. 6.

The New Jersey State Police Office of Public Information did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

In a statement posted to X on May 31, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport wrote that state police cleared the area outside Delaney Hall because a group of people refused to leave after the curfew order. She did not address the use of force against or arrest of members of the press.