Protesters outside Delaney Hall in Newark escalated tensions Saturday when a chant calling for police officers and federal agents to kill themselves spread widely across X and other social media platforms.
“Every cop, every fed, shoot yourself in the head,” protesters chanted in the video. A person appearing to lead the chant added, “Please now, preferably now.”
The protest movement outside Delaney Hall has received visible support from Mikie Sherrill, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim and other Democratic leaders who stood in solidarity with demonstrators at the Newark immigration detention center.
Today, both Kim and Sherrill have remained silent after the mob they encouraged spiraled out of control, attacking federal agents and a renewed call for the death of police and federal agents.
A popular X government watchdog, WakeUp NJ, said of the video, “Anti-ICE protesters at Delaney Hall chanting “Every cop every fed shoot yourself in the head” right in front of agents, what the absolute hell. This isn’t a peaceful protest, it’s incitement & crossing the line of domestic terrorism.”
The New Jersey State Police PBA has been contacted for comment. This story will be updated if they respond.
Key Points
• Protesters outside Delaney Hall chanted for police and federal agents to kill themselves
• Mikie Sherrill and Andy Kim have shown public solidarity with protesters at the facility
• Neither Kim nor Sherrill has denounced the chant based on the information provided
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The chant shifted attention from detention conditions to the initial conditions-based rhetoric surrounding the protests. Calls for law enforcement officers to commit suicide are not political criticism. They are a direct and dehumanizing attack on people tasked with public safety and federal enforcement.
Kim and Sherrill’s silence now carries political weight because both have visibly aligned themselves with the protest movement at Delaney Hall. Supporting oversight of detention conditions does not require tolerating chants that target police officers, ICE agents or federal employees with violent self-harm language.
Sherrill is also under fire for keeping the New Jersey State Police on a short leash when it comes to protecting public and private property around the protest.
Lawmakers Face Pressure Over Silence
Other Democratic officials, including Robert Menendez Jr. and LaMonica McIver, have also been connected to the Delaney Hall protests. McIver faces federal charges tied to an alleged confrontation involving an ICE agent at the facility.
The demonstrations have grown increasingly volatile, with protesters blocking vehicles, clashing with federal law enforcement and facing arrests. Federal agents have used pepper spray, batons and tear gas during confrontations outside the Newark site.
Now, many in New Jersey are waiting to see whether elected officials who supported the protests will clearly condemn the rhetoric aimed at law enforcement. That question matters because public officials can criticize ICE, demand better detention conditions, and oppose federal immigration policy without ignoring chants that tell officers to die.