New Jersey state police formed a line of officers with riot shields near the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark last Sunday, trapping dozens of people — including protesters defying a curfew and journalists covering the scene — inside a containment formation known as a kettle, Rose wrote. An officer then offered press an opportunity to leave but pointed at one individual and said, “You are not press.”
The city of Newark had imposed a curfew that exempted journalists displaying “verified credentials,” but neither the New Jersey governor’s office nor the Newark mayor’s office responded to questions about what constituted verification, Rose said. Under the curfew, journalists’ ability to cover the ongoing hunger strike by ICE detainees and the resulting protests depended on the snap decisions of individual officers.
In the past week, the US Press Freedom Tracker has documented 30 assaults by officers on journalists near the facility, Rose reported. ICE doused several photographers with pepper spray and beat them with batons, according to the Tracker.
State police pulled a WNBC crew from their vehicle, exposing them to tear gas, Rose wrote. Newark police forced MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi and his crew beyond sight of the protest while they were broadcasting live on MS NOW. An independent photographer was allowed access only after submitting to a police pat-down and being driven to the scene in the back of a police car.
On Sunday, five live video feeds — none from traditional television cameras — showed the decisions inside the kettle, Rose wrote. State police released most of the press and ordered them about 100 feet away, but Newark police then moved the line further, prompting journalists to object that they had lost sight and sound of the protest. An officer radioed a command: “If they refuse to move, push them back yourselves.”
At least three journalists were stranded inside the kettle and spent a full day in custody while lawyers were denied access to see them, Rose wrote. One was injured and taken to a hospital, where he saw two arrested protesters being treated. Without press cameras, it was unclear how those protesters had been hurt during detention.
Another journalist wore a blue vest emblazoned with the word “press” and an employer ID from the National Press Photographers Association, but officers told him his credentials were not verified, Rose wrote.
Nationwide, police departments rarely issue press passes, and courts have increasingly ruled that law enforcement should look for “indicia” of press status — business cards, employer-issued IDs, clothing marked “press,” or professional equipment — rather than a central credentialing system, Rose wrote. The indicia approach affirms that press rights exist to protect the act of informing the public, not to protect a chosen class of people. “If an officer can point at them and say they are not press, the First Amendment ceases to have meaning,” Rose wrote.