USA: Amid projectiles and tear gas, RSF provides protective gear to journalists covering New Jersey protests

Protests have escalated outside of Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, New Jersey, where detainees are on hunger and labor strikes over poor living conditions. Law enforcement officers have reportedly clashed with protestors and journalists, using tear gas, batons, and pepper spray on crowds after the May 22 strikes began.

At least three journalists were arrested while covering the protests on May 31, according to organizations monitoring the situation. RSF joined a coalition of 17 other press freedom organizations in urging authorities to dismiss the charges against them. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is also investigating reports of at least 38 assaults on journalists, along with multiple incidents of equipment damage, linked to the protests.

Journalists have described being shot with projectiles and sprayed with irritants while covering the New Jersey protests. Daniel Terna, a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn, New York, said that he was injured while covering the protests after riot police shot a projectile round at his back.

"As an independent freelancer, my work is not steady and often underpaid. The funds from this grant will help lessen the financial burden of my work in the field of photography," said Terna, who noted that he has been working in increasingly dangerous situations in the United States where tear gas and non-lethal munitions have been used against the press.

RSF is helping reporters, many of whom are not institutionally supported and lack sufficient funding, obtain eye protection, helmets, respirator masks, and first-aid kits to cover the New Jersey protests and similar volatile events.

Talia Jane, an independent reporter based in New York, described dangerous scenes outside Delaney Hall. "Press are being shot at with pepper bullets, rubber bullets, hit with batons, and cars are driving into us," Jane said.

Jane said she has a vest, respirator, and goggles, but has not found a helmet within her budget. "I would like for my skull to not get cracked in the course of that work!" Jane said.

Paola Chapdelaine, a freelancer based in New Jersey, expressed similar concerns. "I don't have the budget to upgrade what I currently have, as protests seem to be increasing … [with] the current example of ICE & protestors at Delaney Hall, which I plan to cover in the coming days," she said.

Terna, Jane, and Chapdelaine are just a few of the reporters who have been approved for grants through the PRESS Fund since the Delaney Hall protests began in late May.

After launching the US PRESS Fund in April in response to a recent spike in threats against reporters, RSF is actively engaging with journalists covering civil unrest to fund their equipment in real time. The program aims to support journalists across the US, particularly independent and freelance reporters with limited budgets, and to ensure they are safely equipped before crises occur.