Essex County prosecutor’s sergeant charged with stealing injured photojournalist’s gear during Delaney Hall protest
The alleged theft occurred after state police rounded up protesters, reporters, and photojournalists and made arrests outside the immigrant detention facility.
An Essex County Prosecutor’s Office sergeant allegedly stole an injured photojournalist’s camera bag during the chaotic protests last weekend at Newark’s Delaney Hall, then brought it home with him afterward.
The state Attorney General’s Office has charged Sgt. Darryl Brown, 43, of Sparta Township, with third-degree theft for allegedly grabbing the unnamed journalist’s bag during violent protests outside the immigrant detention camp on May 30.
The victim, who had been injured during the melee, was being treated at a hospital when Brown allegedly stumbled across the bag, which held about $10,000 worth of photography equipment, state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said Thursday.
The journalist later tracked an Apple AirTag affixed to the bag to a house in Sparta. But then someone apparently moved the tracker several miles away, where one of the victim’s friends found it.
Investigators searched Brown’s home on June 3 and spotted several of the photojournalist’s items, including several things labeled with the victim’s name and phone number, Davenport said.
Authorities later reviewed the sergeant’s body camera footage from May 30 and found he had “interacted with a dark colored bag, consistent with the description of the victim’s belongings,” the attorney general added.
The allegations directly challenge state officials’ assertions that no journalists were detained, arrested, or injured during the police response outside Delaney Hall on May 31, when officers enforced a newly imposed curfew and allegedly kettled protesters and members of the press near the facility.
Demonstrations outside the detention center began after roughly 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on May 22 to protest conditions inside the 1,000-bed facility.
The New Jersey State Police’s creation of a sweeping security perimeter around Delaney Hall had already raised concerns about infringements on free speech and press freedom. Videos reviewed by The Jersey Vindicator showed troopers, some on horseback, surrounding protesters in a “kettle” that also ensnared reporters and photojournalists.
Earlier this week, Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, said at least two credentialed photojournalists had been arrested during the protests, contrary to state officials’ claims.
On Thursday, Osterreicher pilloried Brown’s alleged actions as interfering not only with the photographer’s work, but also with the public’s right to know.
“The allegation that a police officer removed a photographer’s equipment from the scene and took it to his personal residence is especially disturbing,” Osterreicher said. “Such actions, if true, undermine public confidence, jeopardize the integrity of potential evidence, and interfere with the vital role journalists play in providing transparency and accountability.”
“When a camera is taken, particularly from a journalist who has been injured while covering a public event, it raises concerns far beyond the loss of equipment,” he continued. “The images, video, and other materials contained on that device may constitute irreplaceable evidence of what occurred and may document conduct that the public has a right to see and evaluate for itself.”
In a statement, Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II called the allegations against Brown “serious and concerning” and said the agency had suspended the sergeant without pay.
“Conduct that undermines the public’s trust in law enforcement is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Stephens said.
Davenport said that officers who commit such crimes are a “disservice to the profession and the public.”
“Let me be clear: absolutely no one is above the law,” she said. “We will hold law enforcement accountable when they abuse the tremendous position of public trust that they occupy and choose to break the law.”
Brown faces three to five years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 if convicted, the attorney general said.
Steve Janoski is an award-winning investigative journalist with nearly two decades of experience covering criminal justice, policing, courts, government, and politics. His reporting has exposed corruption, government malfeasance, and police misconduct. His work has appeared in the New York Post, USA Today, The Associated Press, The Record, and the Asbury Park Press. At The Jersey Vindicator, he covers criminal justice. Reach Steve at steve AT jerseyvindicator.org.