A group of organized rioters defied orders from the State Police to move their demonstration to a nearby “First Amendment Zone” in New Jersey, which then kicked off a brutal clash between law enforcement and the rioters. The mob of angry protesters got into a violent exchange with state police riot control officers despite New Jersey Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill saying that the reason for the presence of the police was to protect protesters from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.
During the protest, a police officer got on a PA system and told the crowd, “For your security, we need you to relocate to the First Amendment zone.” Members of the crowd were not persuaded by the officer and replied, “We will not, we will not, I’m expressing my First Amendment right here.” A few hours later, troopers, including a few on horses, used heavy riot control tactics, including noise bombs, tear gas grenades, pepper spray, and riot shields to disperse the protesters.
Sherrill took to social media platform X and commented on the incident outside Delaney Hall, writing, “My top priority is keeping New Jerseyans and our communities safe – and an increased ICE surge in the area outside of Delaney Hall is a threat to public safety. “We know that lives would be at risk were that to happen. And I will not accept that risk.”
“This was absolutely necessary to protect public safety, and avoid escalation from ICE,” she continued. During a press briefing following the incident, the governor put the blame on ICE agents and their tactics for the escalation of the demonstration. “We’re going to continue to support making sure that people are safe and there’s public safety. But going forward, it’s peaceful,” she said.
“And what seems to really be inciting a lot of this is are really the ICE agents. So the ICE agents really need to stay out of there. That seems to really be inciting a lot of this right now,” she continued. Fox News anchor Dana Perino weighed in on Sherrill’s comments, making the point that while the governor wants ICE to leave, they are a federal agency and the federal government is in charge of immigration policy, not the state.
“Well, first of all, again, I’m watching the video. I’m watching what the ICE agents are doing versus what the protesters are doing, and the curious thing to me is, well, then exactly what is she wanting to happen here? She wants ICE to leave, but the federal government is in charge of immigration policy, not the state,” Perino said in a news clip about Sherrill’s comments.
Former DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Jonathan Fahey responded to Perino’s comments, saying, “Yeah, it’s completely baffling. The ICE agents should leave the ICE facilities. It’s not as if the ice agents are at the protesters’ homes. They’re at an ICE facility. Yeah, and that’s exactly what they want to do. If you really think about it, they want to be able to basically veto or control federal immigration enforcement, and they think they should be able to do so.”
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ICE agents were forced to deploy pepper balls into the crowd during the riot and state law enforcement moved in as well. However, the main fight was between local cops and rioters, which resulted in vehicles getting smashed and a lot of folks doused with pepper spray and tear gas. The fiery demonstration marked the seventh day of agitators protesting outside of the facility.
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video