(U.S. Department of Justice)
If Democrats were looking for a mascot for the anti-ICE movement, they may have found one in New Jersey.
Federal authorities say 26-year-old Brendan John Geier of Madison, New Jersey, was arrested after allegedly attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers during the latest round of anti-ICE demonstrations outside Newark’s Delaney Hall detention facility. According to the Department of Justice, Geier didn’t merely resist officers attempting to clear a roadway blocked by protesters — he allegedly kicked officers and bit two federal agents hard enough to send them to the hospital.
The incident is the latest example of how demonstrations marketed as “peaceful protests” have increasingly devolved into confrontations with federal law enforcement. For days, activists have gathered outside Delaney Hall, a facility that has become ground zero in the national fight over President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda. What began as demonstrations over detention policies has repeatedly escalated into clashes involving blocked roadways, physical confrontations and arrests.
(Screengrab: X)
“Peaceful protest doesn’t translate to violently attacking federal law enforcement officers,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “Federal officers are protecting United States’ property and facilities. With virtually no local law enforcement support from New Jersey, rioters are regrouping and attacking.”
He added: “We will not tolerate the vicious attacks we have seen in Newark the last few days, and we will make arrests and hold people accountable for criminal conduct.”
The DOJ alleges that federal officers were conducting security operations around Delaney Hall when a large crowd blocked access roads to the facility. Officers reportedly issued repeated commands for demonstrators to move back. Prosecutors say Geier instead “engaged in a struggle with deportation officers, kicking officers and ultimately biting an officer’s forearm, and another’s knuckle.”
Both officers required hospital treatment.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin delivered an equally blunt warning. “As alleged in the Justice Department’s complaint, this violent rioter savagely bit an ICE law enforcement officer outside of Delaney Hall,” Mullin said. “The Trump Administration will always stand with our law enforcement officers. Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The arrest comes amid a week of escalating unrest outside the Newark facility. Federal officials say multiple protesters have been arrested after confrontations with agents. DHS reported that nine people were taken into custody during Thursday night’s clashes alone, while officials have accused demonstrators of blocking vehicles, assaulting officers and interfering with federal operations.
Even more alarming, federal authorities announced a separate arrest involving a suspect accused of making death threats against an ICE officer and the officer’s family. Videos circulating online showed one protester openly threatening violence while apparently unconcerned about being identified on camera.
Whatever one’s views on immigration policy, biting federal agents, threatening families and physically obstructing law enforcement isn’t civil disobedience. It’s criminal conduct. And if the Trump administration’s latest statements are any indication, more arrests could be coming.
