GEO Group employee charged in Father’s Day vigil incident where protester was struck outside Delaney Hall

Police say Thomas K. Brown drove into a woman demonstrating outside the Newark ICE detention center before entering the facility.

A Newark man employed by GEO Group allegedly ran down a woman waving an upside-down American flag during a Father’s Day vigil outside the company’s controversial Delaney Hall immigrant detention center, authorities said.

Thomas K. Brown, 38, was charged with assault by auto after investigators determined that he drove his red Dodge Challenger into Alex James, an activist from Minnesota, at about 5 p.m. June 21 outside the Doremus Avenue facility. James was treated at University Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda Sr. confirmed Brown is an employee of GEO Group, the private prison company that operates Delaney Hall under a 15-year, $1 billion federal contract.

James was participating in a Father’s Day vigil organized by Sussex Visibility Brigade. Organizers said about 75 volunteers were stationed near Delaney Hall’s hospitality tent while another 15 to 20 autonomous protesters gathered outside the facility’s north gate.

“I commend the diligence of our detectives for quickly identifying this suspect and ensuring that he faces criminal charges for recklessly injuring a peaceful protester,” Miranda said in a statement. “I am extremely grateful that the victim’s condition is stable and that she rightfully reported the incident to police.”

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On Wednesday, James told The Jersey Vindicator that Delaney Hall staff members came outside minutes before the collision and instructed demonstrators to clear the driveway for vehicles entering the facility. After several cars passed, protesters returned to the center of the entrance.

But the Challenger was late to the party, and she paid the price.

Onlookers gasped and screamed as the car struck James near the waist, sending the American flag flying and dragging her several yards across the pavement, according to video posted to social media.

“Rather than [tell us] to get out of the way, that person decided that pushing me out of the way with their red sports car was the better idea,” James told The Vindicator. “Then it got to the gate and they let it through, despite everyone trying to stop the car and ask questions about why the driver decided to hit a woman waving a flag.”

Birdie Green, co-founder of Sussex Visibility Brigade and one of the vigil’s organizers, said the collision immediately changed the atmosphere of the event.

Green said the vigil had remained peaceful until James was struck. Afterward, some demonstrators began throwing plastic bottles and yelling, prompting federal agents to deploy pepper balls and pepper spray, she said. Green said several visiting families fled the group’s hospitality tent because of the chemical irritants, and organizers instructed volunteers to retreat rather than confront law enforcement.

“We asked our members to back away, despite the desire to help and stand up against what was happening, because we did not have the skill set or the training to take those risks,” Green said.

Green also said one participant who had suffered an asthma attack earlier in the day experienced additional breathing problems after being exposed to pepper spray and later recovered after using her inhaler.

In an email, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson disputed the activists’ accounts, writing that “rioters surrounded an employee’s vehicle, assaulted federal officers, interfered with a lawful arrest, and attempted to obstruct law enforcement operations.”

“One rioter was arrested after she bit a law enforcement officer,” the spokesperson wrote. “Violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated. Law and order will prevail.”

The spokesperson also said the driver was not an ICE employee and referred questions about Brown’s employment to GEO Group. The GEO Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Organizers also said ICE canceled visitation for Delaney Hall’s Unit 4 later that day. The Jersey Vindicator could not independently verify that claim.

Meanwhile, James said she is beginning to feel the effects of the collision.

“I didn’t check my body until I got dressed the next morning, and that’s when I saw bruising,” she said. “My body’s been so clenched up ever since, I didn’t realize it. But now I’m starting to feel the effects of it, and I’m taking things a lot slower right now.”

The incident is the latest in a string of confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement outside Delaney Hall, which became a focal point this spring for protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Since the facility opened in May, detainees have complained about living conditions inside Delaney Hall. About 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on May 22, drawing renewed attention to the facility and prompting weeks of demonstrations outside the complex.

Those protests led to several clashes involving federal agents, the New Jersey State Police, and Newark police. While demonstrations had largely calmed in recent weeks, organizers said the collision with James reignited tensions.

In a statement released after the incident, Green said families should not have to fear violence while trying to visit loved ones held inside the detention center.

“We should not have to fear violence from those profiting from family separation,” Green said. “Families deserve to visit their loved ones without intimidation, retaliation, or harm.”

The Department of Homeland Security continues to dispute organizers’ account of the confrontation, maintaining that demonstrators assaulted officers and interfered with law enforcement operations.

James, who said she drove 19 hours from Minnesota to deliver protective equipment and medical supplies to activists outside Delaney Hall, said she intends to sue both the federal government and GEO Group.

“I do want to take legal action,” she said. “My lawyer is handling all the logistics of that.”

Still, James said she returned to Delaney Hall immediately after being released from the hospital.

“We need to show them that they don’t get to shut us down and make us frightened to be out there. What’s going on inside is the most important part of this. I’m just part of the equation,” James said.

“Someone told me today that when people saw I got hit, and the manner in which I was hit, so violently and intentionally, it gave people pause about coming out,” she continued. “But when they saw my reaction was to come right back out the same day, they decided to reconsider. So, it’s important to be persistent.”