Twelve Arrested in Newark Protests Outside Migrant Detention Center

Newark police arrested at least 12 people last weekend during protests outside the Delaney Hall migrant detention center. The charges included assaulting federal agents and smashing car windshields. Four of the arrested individuals came from Washington State, Colorado, Arizona, and Illinois.

One came from Connecticut. Five were from New York. Only three were from New Jersey. Zion Napier, 28, of Seattle, was charged with three counts of criminal mischief. Police video showed him jumping on cars and smashing windows.

He had worked at Seaborn Companies, a marine construction firm in Seattle. Mariano Anthony Perez, 31, of Phoenix, was charged with punching a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in the face. He had tried to block the entrance to the facility.

Thomas Clemens, 30, of Chicago, was charged with aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer and hindering apprehension. He completed a doctorate at the University of Colorado in 2019 and worked as a traveling physical therapist in Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii until December. Rayaan Baywa, 22, of Connecticut, was arrested during the protests.

He is an actor with the Stonehill Theatre Company. Persephone Ambriz-Squires, 27, of Albuquerque and now Brooklyn, was arrested for rioting and failure to disperse. She lists Bergdorf-Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue among her interests on social media.

Sarah Sullivan, 25, of upstate High Falls, New York, was arrested for rioting and failure to disperse. Her mother owns a literary agency and her father is a research executive. Julianna Wurst, 19, of Old Bridge, New Jersey, was arrested during the protests.

Lucas Jimenez, 18, of New Jersey, was arrested during the protests. Drew Larsen, 29, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn and originally Frederick, Maryland, was arrested during the protests. He was a photographer for the local branch of the Sunrise Movement in Frederick, according to a 2020 Instagram post.