GOP candidate rips Gov. Sherrill over limited police at Delaney Hall

While New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill blamed out-of-state agitators for the unrest outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, critics noted the limited police presence around the facility in the days leading up to the shootings.

During the time Fox News Digital was on the scene at Delaney Hall until Thursday of last week, there were few, if any, visits from New Jersey State Police vehicles, an agency under Sherrill’s control. Likewise, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka’s hands-off sanctuary city policies were evident in the dearth of Newark police cruisers around the facility.

However, on Saturday, Sherrill said five of the six people arrested Friday were from Pennsylvania and New York, with the latter just a few miles from the protest.

In November, Delaney Hall critic Sen. That wasn’t enough for critics, as the leading Republican seeking to challenge Cory Booker tried to take credit for Sherrill for solving a problem that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

WATCH: POLICE ARE NOT IN DELANEY HALL CHAOS AS AGITATORS BLOCK ICE TRUCKS AND AGENTS USE PEPPER SPRAY

“Governor Sherrill, you are an arsonist complaining about the fire you helped start. Delaney Hall is under siege,” the investigative journalist said. Alex Zdan said the following about the Democrat in his statement:.

Zdan, who lists border security and better control of Big Pharma as his priority issues, is considered the leading name to compete with Booker, especially Baraka’s mayoral predecessor, in Tuesday’s Republican Senate primaries.

“Our brave state troopers are in danger and the only thing you can do is complain to the media about the agitators out there? Who asked them to go there, Governor?” Zdan continued.

“Who told us it was our moral duty to descend on Delaney Hall and attack our brave ICE agents and troopers? You, Andy Kim, and Cory Booker. This is your mess. Own it. Now restore order.”

The Justice Department announced charges against a 27-year-old man accused of yelling epithets at ICE personnel and threatening to kill an officer and his family after allegedly obtaining the officer’s identity.[d] Your face.”

Nicholas Matthew Scelfo appears to have ties to both New Jersey and New York. The FBI said agents raided his Morristown home, while the Justice Department’s charging document said he was “from Brooklyn.”

FBI ARRESTED PROTESTER WHO THREATENED TO KILL OFFICER’S FAMILY AT NJ DETENTION CENTER PROTEST, BLANCHE SAYS

A protester is treated after being struck with pepper spray outside Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ (Fox News Digital’s Rashid Umar Abbasi.)

Newark Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Spiros Karabinas said the incident was not an example of a protected protest because “calling for the murder of a federal law enforcement officer and his family is not expression protected by the Constitution; it is a grave crime that will not be tolerated.” he said.

As Fox News Digital was leaving Delaney Hall on Thursday night, the first visible pair of New Jersey State Police cruisers appeared in the area; one manning a checkpoint near Roanoke Boulevard under the Pulaski Skyway, the other near New Jersey Transit’s Ironbound bus garage, located just south of Delaney Hall on Doremus Boulevard, which was then filled with agitators.

But by the weekend, Sherrill’s police were on duty in riot gear, including officers on horseback. Video shared on social media Monday showed a man approaching police officers outside the Ironbound garage and sitting on the curb, yelling at the officer, allowing the officer to let him go for a moment before quickly detaining him and pulling him behind riot-proof police lines.

However, when a young man captured on video screaming at ICE by Fox News Digital was later interviewed by an independent news outlet and described experiences “in Minnesota” at one point — an apparent reference to similar riotous demonstrations there — outside agitators were among those who gathered nightly at Delaney Hall.

While New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport condemned a group wearing gas masks and helmets, “deliberately refusing to comply with orders” and putting the public “at risk,” she suggested that most agitators have been peaceful so far.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and Senator Andy Kim, D-N.J., stand outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, during a protest 5/25/26. (Governor Mikie Sherrill)

But in another statement over the weekend, he described the group as “deeply peaceful protesters shedding light on the troubling conditions at Delaney Hall.”

“We will continue to protect the constitutional right to peacefully protest and condemn any violent behavior that interferes with peaceful protest,” Davenport said.

Efforts to reach Baraka and Essex County Sheriff Chief Jones prior to the arrival of state police were unsuccessful.

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Sherrill’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that as of Monday, the perimeter around the center is “fully sealed off” and that federal authorities will continue to prosecute suspects who are obstructing the case, as federal authorities have repeatedly had to turn away angry agitators who mobilize every time a federal vehicle or transport van appears on Doremus Boulevard.