Days of protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, have led to clashes between demonstrators and officers and a handful of arrests. Now, one New York man faces federal charges alleging he threatened to kill an ICE officer and his family.
A criminal complaint filed Saturday accuses Nicholas Matthew Scelfo, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, of making the threats during protests last week outside Delaney Hall – a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility where detainees have alleged inhumane conditions for months.
But tensions escalated over Memorial Day weekend as hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest spoiled food and wretched conditions, some of their lawyers said.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied those allegations and has continued to push back against the allegations of inhumane living conditions.
When asked about recent protests at Delaney Hall, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said demonstrators can exercise their First Amendment right so long as they do so peacefully.
