A reporter and his team were attacked and robbed while documenting an Antifa-led disturbance outside Newark’s Delaney Hall ICE detention facility, with equipment damaged, a security guard hurt, and no arrests reported so far.
Investigative journalist Cameron Higby was filming an Antifa-led confrontation with federal officers outside Delaney Hall in Newark when the situation turned violent. Eyewitness accounts say the crowd built barricades and then began targeting journalists and federal property as tensions escalated late Friday night. What started as a tense standoff quickly became chaotic and dangerous for anyone trying to record the scene.
Protesters reportedly erected barricades intended to keep police away from the detention center, but those barriers mostly blocked ambulances and emergency crews from reaching the site. Witnesses describe the barricades as a deliberate attempt to control access and to complicate any official response. Those moves created a risk not just to officers but to bystanders and those trying to cover the event directly.
Higby says he saw one person smash the windshield of a federal law enforcement vehicle while he filmed. In the scramble to capture the footage, one of his phones slipped out of his pocket and fell to the pavement. That moment set off a series of confrontations that escalated quickly as protesters closed in on him and his security detail.
https://x.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/2060568832167583859
While searching the area for the lost phone, a rioter grabbed Higby’s tripod and the phone he had been streaming from. Other attackers took advantage of the mêlée to destroy equipment, leaving Higby with roughly $2,000 in damaged camera and media gear. One of Higby’s security guards suffered a laceration after being hit by a chunk of ice, according to his account, underscoring how quickly property damage became personal injury.
Social media response from supporters of the rioters was brazen and celebratory in some corners, with messages openly mocking the violence. One posted line that circulated verbatim read, “they done broke his phone…they done f****d up his body guards.” Those reactions show a disturbing willingness among some to cheer attacks on press and security personnel when the targets are people covering left-wing actions.
Under pressure and fearing for his safety, Higby withdrew into the ICE detention complex to escape the mob. Local authorities have not announced any arrests connected to the assault or the theft and destruction of equipment as of this report. The lack of immediate charges highlights questions about how these scenes are policed and whether violent actors face consequences.
This incident is part of a larger pattern where confrontational protesters place themselves between law enforcement and facilities, then turn on anyone who documents their behavior. Journalists and their security teams are increasingly vulnerable when they try to do their jobs in hostile environments. The event in Newark raises familiar concerns about public safety, accountability, and the protection of those reporting on politically charged demonstrations.
