The protester was waving an upside-down American flag when she was hit, video shows.
A protest outside a US immigration detention centre turned chaotic on Sunday after a demonstrator was struck by a car while waving an upside-down American flag, reports the New York Post.The incident happened outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey where dozens of protesters had gathered on Father’s Day calling for detainees to be released and for the facility to be shut down.Footage from the scene shows a woman holding an upside-down US flag as she stood in front of the building’s entrance and blocked access.Moments later, a red Dodge Challenger drove towards the group and hit the protester before continuing forward. She fell to the ground but was later seen moving, with fellow demonstrators shouting nearby.The protester had travelled from Minnesota and was not seriously injured, according to Visible Brigade, a New Jersey-based activist group that spoke to Pix 11. The group said she “is not yet believed to have sought medical care.”The group also claimed the driver of the vehicle was an employee of the GEO Group, the private company that operates the 1,000-bed facility, although this has not been confirmed by authorities. Tensions escalated further after the incident, with protesters alleging that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers used pepper spray against the crowd.The demonstration was part of a Father’s Day vigil outside Delaney Hall, where participants held signs reading “Free the dads, close the camps” and placed neckties on a fence while confronting officers stationed at the gates.The facility has been a repeated flashpoint in recent weeks, with ongoing protests linked to claims by detainees of poor conditions, including overcrowding, limited access to services, and concerns over case delays. Officials have denied the allegations and said detention standards are higher than those in many US prisons.Earlier in the month, 12 protesters were arrested outside the centre on charges including alleged assaults on federal officers. Some of those detained were said to be from out of state, and investigators have also linked a few individuals to activist groups campaigning against ICE operations at the site.
