A U.S. Senator was pepper-sprayed by ICE outside of an immigration detention center on Monday.
Senator Andy Kim was filmed having his eyes washed out with a bottle of water in a video shared by a reporter on X. The senator has subsequently said that his eyes and throat were “burning” and that his hand hurts following the incident.
The incident unfolded outside of Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, an immigrant detention facility where inmates launched a hunger strike to protest conditions at the facility.
“But what happened was: I came out from Delaney Hall and immediately noticed that there was a tense situation outside,” Kim told a reporter from NJ.com. “ICE had brought out an armored vehicle and then a line of armed officers that were armed up in vests and armed.”
Kim went on to say that the crowd of protestors formed a line in front of the ICE agents, prompting him to position himself in the middle of the two sides to “de-escalate the situation” and to prevent a “physical clash.”
Then, ICE told him that they were planning to “push through the crowd,” because they wanted to move a vehicle. When the vehicle did eventually start to move, Kim says he ran to put himself between the protesters and ICE agents.
According to him, “that’s when they started to shoot at us with pepper balls as well as using the pepper spray.”
Kim added that ICE agents were “tackling people” amid the chaos.
Governor Mikie Sherrill also joined the protest on Monday, according to The New York Times. While there, Sherrill heard from the families of detainees who have complained about their loved ones being served spoiled and rotten food, as well as receiving inadequate medical care.
The state governor told protestors that she had requested access to the facility but had been denied. She left before the standoff between the ICE agents and protestors erupted.
In a statement on X on Monday, the DHS claimed that “no individuals were directly struck by pepper ball projectiles.”
The department claimed that law enforcement forces were obstructed from exiting the facility and that lawful verbal commands had been issued for rioters to clear the area. The rioters refused to follow the commands, according to the statement.
“Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,” the statement continued. “The First Amendment protects speech and peaceful assembly – not rioting.
Markwayne Mullin, the DHS Secretary, described the incident on X as “nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks.”
“There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions,” he added.
Speaking to NJ.com, Kim said that he wished that Mullin had called him before claiming there was no hunger strike or subprime conditions.
“It’s not about just what tactics that they’re using to protest,” he said. “It’s the fact that these conditions are just inhumane, and this system is so broken on so many different fronts.”
