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May 25, 2026

3 entries on this date.

U.S. Sen. Andy Kim pepper-sprayed by federal agents during ICE oversight visit in Newark

On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he was pepper-sprayed by federal agents outside Delaney Hall, a private ICE detention facility in Newark, after conducting an in-person oversight visit while detainees inside were on a hunger strike. Kim said he had tried to position himself between ICE personnel and protesters to de-escalate when officers — who had deployed an armored vehicle as a barricade — pushed through and discharged pepper balls and pepper spray. DHS publicly defended the action, blaming "rioters" and asserting officers used "the minimum amount of force necessary," and later said no individuals were directly struck by pepper-ball projectiles.

ICE agents threw a nurse to the ground during Delaney Hall protest, fracturing her kneecap

On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents threw Dr. Norma Bowe, a Kean University nursing professor running a volunteer mobile health clinic outside Newark's Delaney Hall ICE detention center, to the ground as she tried to help a woman being dragged across the pavement by agents. Bowe suffered a fractured kneecap, a torn meniscus, and a head injury. The incident is detailed in a notice of claim filed by the ACLU of New Jersey, part of a coordinated set of 54 claims filed by ACLU affiliates in 17 states and Washington, D.C. alleging a pattern of unlawful violence by federal immigration agents.

DOJ scrubs Jan. 6 prosecution releases, erasing records of pleas and convictions

In late May 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice mass-deleted news releases from its website detailing federal prosecutions of Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol-attack defendants — including guilty pleas, jury verdicts, and prison-sentence announcements covering portions of the roughly 1,600 cases, with assaults on Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan Police officers and seditious-conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders among the purged set. The DOJ's rapid-response social-media account defended the takedown as removing "partisan propaganda" from the prior administration. The formerly accessible URLs now return "Page not found" errors.