NEWARK, N.J. — A pack of furious anti-ICE protesters turned a New Jersey detention center into a nighttime nightmare, swarming and blocking vehicles, pounding on cars, and hurling vile slurs like “slave catcher” at staff just trying to do their jobs.
Shocking video captured outside Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed ICE facility run by private contractor GEO Group in Newark, shows the chaotic scene unfolding late at night as a third vehicle was hemmed in by the unruly crowd. “You’ve got no right to run me over; you’ve got no badge, no one is coming to protect you!” one protester shrieked at a driver, according to footage posted on X by Patrick Nealis.
A man in a green shirt was seen aggressively banging on a white car as it tried to inch forward, while the mob chanted “quit your job” and lobbed racist-tinged insults at Black workers and drivers. “Slave catcher!” they yelled, a grotesque twist coming from mostly white agitators targeting minority staff enforcing federal immigration law.
The ugly confrontation is the latest flare-up in weeks of protests at the facility, where demonstrators claim detainees are enduring rotten food, overcrowding, and poor conditions. But the footage shows the so-called peaceful protesters turning into a dangerous mob, obstructing exits, damaging vehicles, and creating a clear public safety hazard.
Federal agents have responded with pepper spray and arrests in prior clashes, with more than 80 people already hauled off since late May. Yet the disruptions keep coming, with cars forced to push through human blockades as protesters sit on hoods, kick doors and shine lights into windshields.
Critics are blasting Garden State authorities for letting the lawlessness spiral.
“This isn’t a protest, it’s Antifa-style terrorism,” one frustrated X user fumed. Others pointed out the irony of white liberals screaming “slave catcher” at Black men simply earning a paycheck.
In places like Florida, posters noted, drivers wouldn’t hesitate to “hit the gas” under Stand Your Ground protections when surrounded and threatened.
Delaney Hall has become ground zero for resistance to President Trump’s immigration crackdown, with detainees reportedly on hunger strikes. But while activists cry about conditions inside, law-abiding workers outside are being treated like criminals by a screaming mob that thinks blocking roads and smashing cars is protected speech.
New Jersey officials, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, have faced heat for the response, with state police occasionally stepping in amid the chaos. But many are asking: Where are the mass arrests for this repeated obstruction and property damage?
One thing’s clear from the raw video, these aren’t candlelight vigils. They’re rolling riots aimed at shutting down federal operations by any means necessary. And innocent drivers are caught in the crossfire.
