Photojournalist sprayed in the face with irritant at New Jersey protest

Photojournalist Stephanie Keith was pepper-sprayed by federal officers while covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its treatment of detainees in Newark, New Jersey, on May 25, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility began May 22, when many detainees went on a hunger strike. Members of Congress, state and local lawmakers and rights groups have alleged dire conditions at the facility.

Federal officers responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests. The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

On May 25, Keith was on assignment for Getty Images, photographing ICE operations alongside a group of other credentialed journalists with cameras. Federal agents made eye contact with the journalists before dousing them with pepper spray. Keith’s face was coated in the irritant.

“There was literally no respect or no accord for the fact that we were nonthreatening and just standing there doing our jobs,” Keith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She immediately went home to wash the pepper spray from her body.

In a statement emailed to the Tracker on June 1, DHS said anyone who obstructs law enforcement or disrupts its operations would be prosecuted. It did not address its use of force against members of the press.

“We remind members of the media to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots and remind journalists that covering unlawful activities in the field does come with risks,” the statement read. “Our officers take every reasonable precaution to mitigate those dangers to those exercising protected First Amendment rights.”