Newark Imposes Curfew After Saturday Night Violence at Delaney Hall

The situation outside Delaney Hall escalated sharply after sundown on May 30, 2026 — the ninth consecutive day of protests at the Newark ICE detention facility.

According to the NY Post, the chaos started in earnest around 9 p.m. when a small group of demonstrators engaged in what one witness described as a "tug of war" over a security fence. Police responded with flashbangs, smoke grenades, and tear gas — multiple canisters, by eyewitness accounts.

Stephanie, 37, a demonstrator from New York, told the NY Post: "The cops threw the flashbangs. Then I got away. I started seeing all the shields and I ran. There were a couple of loud bangs. I saw smoke grenades going through the air."

A small fire was set in the street after protesters were pushed back, according to the NY Post. Raychell Middlebrooks, an employee at the Essex County Correctional Facility right down the block, told the NY Post she was locked inside her own workplace. "I was trying to leave at 10 and we were told we had to stay in the building," she said. Tear gas from the facility reached their building — staff had to close the doors.

Baraka Announces Curfew

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced a mandatory curfew, effective immediately, covering a half-mile radius around Delaney Hall. The order runs 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily until further notice, according to Fox News Digital.

Starting midnight Sunday, Doremus Avenue closes to pedestrians entirely. Vehicles need official business to get through.

"Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat," Baraka wrote on X, per Fox News Digital.

Anyone violating the curfew faces arrest after a warning.

Sherrill Condemns Violence While Maintaining State Oversight

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill put out a statement condemning "masked individuals" who she said attacked barriers, threw projectiles, used barriers as weapons, and lit tires on fire, according to Fox News Digital.

Sherrill is navigating a difficult position. She set up a "peaceful, protected protest zone" Friday — which lasted approximately zero hours before it dissolved into a riot, per CBS News New York. She's maintaining a state directive that restricts New Jersey officers from assisting ICE agents directly, which a police union has called out publicly.

She deployed New Jersey State Police to take over security operations at the site. According to The Hill, Sherrill and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem found common ground Saturday — with Sherrill deploying state police to maintain order and Noem apparently satisfied with that arrangement.

DHS Issues Warning

Early Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X: "Together with our state and local law enforcement partners, we have SECURED the area around Delaney Hall. ANYONE who attempts to obstruct law enforcement or disrupt our facility will face the FULL weight of the law. WE WON'T BACK DOWN."

Media Coverage Gaps

Left-leaning outlets like CNN spent heavy Saturday coverage framing this as a story about "opposing groups" facing off, leading with the dueling protest angle and the governor urging calm. That framing obscures what actually happened: protesters breached barriers, started fires, threw projectiles at police, and triggered a municipal curfew.

Right-leaning outlets did better on the violence specifics but glossed over the Sherrill-Noem coordination — which is the most consequential political development of the day. If a Democratic governor and a Trump DHS secretary found workable common ground on securing the facility, that's a significant story.

Almost nobody led with the curfew's specific scope: half-mile radius, 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., indefinite duration. That's a neighborhood under nightly lockdown.

Also underreported: the NY Post previously noted that protesters were pooling money for riot gear and military-grade goggles. When demonstrators are pre-equipping for confrontation, the dynamics shift substantially.

Impact on Residents

Residents and workers near Delaney Hall are now locked into a nightly curfew they didn't vote for and didn't cause. Raychell Middlebrooks was trapped at her job. People trying to get home cannot.

Nine days in, a legal ICE facility is operating under siege conditions. The governor has deployed state police. The mayor has issued a curfew. The federal government says it won't back down. Masked individuals are showing up with weapons.