Photographer’s camera flash broken, seized at New Jersey protest

Photographer Ian Bartlett’s flash was broken off his camera and seized by a federal officer at a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Newark, New Jersey, on June 5, 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, which is owned and operated by The Geo Group. The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

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

Bartlett did not comment on the incident for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. But in a series of now-expired stories on his Instagram on June 5, viewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he posted pictures of the damage, and wrote that an ICE officer tried to take his camera and snapped the flash off, claiming he was purposely strobing him.

In one post, he said the officer asked him for his press credentials in exchange for the flash he seized.

“In the moment I decided he could keep the broken flash so that I may keep my press credentials,” he wrote.

Bartlett said the damage will cost several hundred dollars.

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.”