National

Former North Carolina officer seen in video repeatedly punching woman during arrest charged with assault

Former Shelby police officer Karson Hyder is seen in a booking photo released by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. (North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation)

(SHELBY, N.C.) — A former North Carolina police officer who was seen in a viral doorbell camera video repeatedly punching a woman during an arrest has been charged with assault, authorities said.

Former Shelby Police Officer Karson Hyder, 22, turned himself in on Monday, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, which said it has charged him with one count of assault inflicting serious injury in connection with Friday’s incident.

He was processed at the Cleveland County Detention Center and released on a $10,000 secured bond, the bureau said. It is unclear if he has an attorney at this time.

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said it initiated an investigation that “examined an allegation of excessive use of force” at the request of the Shelby police chief and the Cleveland County District Attorney.

Hyder was fired Saturday after the Shelby Police Department completed an administrative investigation into the incident, according to Shelby Police Chief Brad Fraser.

“While this incident does not reflect the values of the Shelby Police Department, it does reinforce the importance of holding ourselves to the highest standards of conduct,” Fraser said during a press briefing on Saturday, calling the former officer’s actions “disturbing and inappropriate.”

Officers were conducting a criminal investigation in Shelby on Friday when they encountered a “suspicious female,” Fraser said.

The doorbell video appears to show an officer repeatedly punching a woman, identified as 34-year-old Cherrie Moore, during an arrest before another officer appears to intervene. It is unclear what happened before the video.

Hyder did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

Moore’s family, who had called for the officer to be charged, told ABC News on Monday that they “feel great” about the charging decision. Her uncle said she suffered a broken nose in the incident but the extent of her injuries was not clear.

“We just want the right thing done, and I think the first right thing is that he be charged,” Moore’s uncle, Michael Moore, previously told ABC News. “Once he’s charged, then we can move forward.”

Moore has mental health issues and is homeless, her uncle said.

She was initially charged with misdemeanor breaking and entering, resisting arrest and assault on a government official, which were ultimately dropped, according to her family.

Moore was charged with resisting a public officer in August 2025 in an incident that also involved Hyder, court documents obtained by ABC News show. She pleaded guilty the following month and was sentenced to time served, according to the filings.

ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab, Matt Foster and Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.

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National

Central bank faces political ‘stress test’ that threatens economy, ex-Fed Chair Powell says

Jerome Powell speaks after receiving the 2026 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on May 31, 2026, in Boston, Massachusetts. (Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — The Federal Reserve is weathering a political “stress test” that threatens to undermine public trust in the central bank and damage the United States economy, former Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in recent remarks.

“Like many other institutions, the Fed has been undergoing a stress test,” Powell told an audience at the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in Boston on Sunday, adding that “Congress wisely chose to insulate monetary policy decisions from political pressure. All other advanced-economy nations have done the same.”

The remarks amounted to a spirited defense of Fed independence, coming just weeks after Powell stepped down from his role as head of the central bank. Powell remains on the Federal Reserve’s 12-person board of governors.

At the outset of this year, the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Powell centered on his testimony to Congress about the cost overruns in a building renovation. It was the first criminal probe of a Fed chair in the central bank’s 113-year history.

Powell denied any wrongdoing and condemned the investigation as an effort to influence Fed policy. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized Powell’s approach to interest-rate policy, denied any involvement in the criminal investigation.

The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is set to issue a decision in the coming weeks in a high-stakes legal fight focused on Trump’s attempted ouster of Fed Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud.

Federal law allows the president to remove a member of the Fed board “for cause,” but little precedent exists for such a removal. Cook rejected the charges as baseless, calling them politically motivated.

In his recent remarks, Powell defended legal protections for Fed officials as critical safeguards for the nation’s economy.

“If any administration finds a way to remove Fed officials over policy differences, then future administrations will do so as well. The public would lose faith that the central bank will make decisions based on only what’s best for all Americans. The Fed’s credibility would be lost,” Powell said.

“That credibility enables the Fed to support a strong and stable economy for the benefit of American families and businesses,” Powell added.

The warning comes as the Fed weathers a renewed bout of inflation set off by a historic oil shock amid the Iran war. The conditions offer an initial test for Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who took the helm of the central bank last month.

If the Fed were to lose its independence, central bankers beholden to political leaders may favor lower interest rates as a means of boosting short-term economic activity and galvanizing public support, some analysts previously told ABC News. But, they added, that posture poses a major risk in the possibility of years-long inflation fueled by a rise in consumer demand, untethered by interest rates.

A burst of high inflation in the 1970s and 1980s offers a cautionary tale.

Before inflation took hold, President Richard Nixon had urged then-Fed Chair Arthur Burns to cut rates in the run-up to the 1972 presidential election. Nixon’s advocacy is widely viewed as contributing to lower-than-necessary interest rates that allowed inflation to get out of control.

Nearly a decade later, in 1981, the Fed raised interest rates as high as 20% in order to bring inflation under control. While the move succeeded in cooling off price hikes, it plunged the U.S. into a recession and sent the unemployment rate to 10%.

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National

US cruise passenger quarantining for hantavirus says he will remain in Nebraska for full 42 days

Jake Rosmarin, one of the American passengers who was on the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship, is speaking out while quarantining. (ABC News)

(NEW YORK) — An American cruise ship passenger who has been quarantining at a Nebraska facility after being exposed to hantavirus said he plans to remain there for the full 42 days.

Jake Rosmarin, who is from Boston, has been at Nebraska’s National Quarantine Unit since May 11. He said staying the full six weeks is the best way to keep his loved ones safe.

“I have been traumatized by this whole experience. I’m afraid to leave this room until I know that the chance of me getting sick is 0%,” he told ABC News. “I want to know when I leave that the chances of me risking other people, my family, friends, the general public, I want know that my risk isn’t minimal. I want that also to be 0%.”

Not all of the 18 Americans who were sent to the facility are staying the full 42 days, which was recommended by health officials.

The incubation period — or the time that passes between exposure and when the first symptoms appear — for the Andes strain of hantavirus, which is believed to be behind the cruise ship cluster, is 42 days.

After the mandatory 21-day quarantine period, many have returned home to self-quarantine for the next 21 days, Rosmarin said. It’s unclear how many left and how many are staying.

On Friday, the New York State Department of Health said two New Yorkers who were quarantining in Nebraska are returning to the state this week.

The two people will be transported via non-commercial flights and complete the remainder of their 42-day monitoring period in residences located out of New York City.

The health department said the individuals have agreed to remain at home and avoid contact with other people. Plans are in place in the event the two people develop symptoms, health officials said.

Rosmarin — who had been traveling by himself — said he wanted to stay in Nebraska because those quarantining at the facility have quick access to medical care and testing, the latter of which is twice a week.

“Once you go home, you’re not gonna be able to be tested,” he said. “So, if you start getting sick, like you may not find out right away and you might not be able to get that care as quickly as possible.”

Rosmarin said he has tried to establish a routine during his time in quarantine, which includes getting up between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. and exercising on a stationary bike.

He said he passes the time by completing puzzles, putting together Lego sets and crocheting.

“I have a calendar where I cross off the days going down,” Rosmarin said. “I watch new TV shows, new movies. I started a book and, honestly, the days have been flying by. The fact that it’s already been 21 days is kind of crazy to me.”

As of May 27, the World Health Organization said the total number of hantavirus cases remains at 13 and all linked back to the MV Hondius cruise ship.

Additionally, the number of deaths remains at three, including a married Dutch couple and a female German national.

“Given the long incubation period of up to six weeks, it is not unexpected that cases continue to be reported until the end of the six weeks since last exposure,” the WHO wrote in a bulletin last week.

ABC News’ Greg Romero contributed to this report.

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National

Drone helps capture man suspected of shooting of 2 Virginia sheriff’s deputies, killing 1

Fugitive Michael Puckett, the suspect in a Virginia shooting that left a sheriff’s deputy dead and another injured, is pictured here following his capture, May 31, 2026, in Surry County, N.C. (Carroll County Sheriff’s Office)

(MOUNT AIRY, N.C.) — A manhunt for the suspect who allegedly shot two Virginia sheriff’s deputies, one fatally, ended Sunday night when law enforcement officers used a drone to zero in and capture him in North Carolina, authorities said.

Michael Puckett, 55, was allegedly armed with a handgun and ringing the doorbell of a home in Mount Airy, N.C., when officers moved in at about 8:32 p.m. ET and made the arrest, ending an intense three-day search for the fugitive, according to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

Puckett’s capture came after the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service offered a combined $60,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office identified Deputy Logan Utt, a military veteran and a member of the agency since 2023, as the deputy who was killed in the exchange of gunfire with Puckett on Friday night at a home near Richmond, Virginia.

A second Carroll County sheriff’s deputy was injured in the shooting when a bullet struck him in his bulletproof vest, Carroll County Sheriff Kevin A. Kemp said in a statement over the weekend.

Utt and the other sheriff’s deputy were sent to the home around 9:26 p.m. local time to conduct a welfare check when they came in contact with Puckett, who allegedly opened fire on them, Kemp said.

The deputies returned fire as Puckett allegedly fled the scene, Kemp said, who added that a motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

The search for Puckett expanded to North Carolina after the fugitive was spotted on Sunday around 6:56 a.m. ET on a wildlife game camera in Surry County, north of Mount Airy, the Wytheville, N.C., police department said in a statement on Facebook.

North Carolina law enforcement officers swarmed the Mount Airy neighborhood where Puckett was seen, establishing a perimeter and deploying a drone, according to the SBI.

“SBI Agents, utilizing a drone, located the suspect moving from one location to another and made the arrest as he was ringing the doorbell of the residence. The suspect was still armed at the time of arrest,” the SBI said in its statement.

Kemp called Utt a “hero,” whose “lifelong dream” was to become a sheriff’s deputy.

“Deputy Utt was a devoted husband, loving father, cherished family member, friend, and respected member of our law enforcement family,” Kemp said. “His service, courage, and dedication will not be forgotten.”

ABC News’ Benjamin Stein, Matt Foster and Michael Pappano contributed to this report.

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National

Usha Vance unveils 2nd annual summer reading challenge for children grades K-8

: Usha Vance talks reading challenge in exclusive interview (ABCNews.com)

(NEW YORK) — Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States, is rolling out her annual summer reading challenge for its second year in an effort to enhance childhood literacy and curb some of the summer reading loss that comes during the summer months, she told ABC’s Linsey Davis in an exclusive interview.

“It is the second one. Last year it was an idea that we had really at the last minute as we were thinking about ways to enhance childhood literacy and get kids reading over the summer and sort of stave off some of the summer learning loss that traditionally happens every year,” Mrs. Vance said. “So we did a little pilot program and it was a success beyond what we had hoped.”

“This year we’re having a big rollout all over the country,” she added, highlighting partnerships with schools, libraries and other institutions across the country.

The program’s aim is for children from kindergarten to eighth grade to read 12 books of their choice this summer.

“Our summer reading challenge is really simple. All kids have to do is pick up 12 books, anything that they like,” Mrs. Vance said. “If a kid likes reading about squirrels, as one did last year, read 12 books about squirrels. If a kid loves history, read books about history.”

“So you read those books, write them down on a log and send them to whitehouse.gov/read and we’ll receive them, send a certificate,” Mrs. Vance said.

Participants will receive a special prize, as well as a chance to visit the White House, according to Mrs. Vance, which she said she hoped would motivate kids to participate.

“We’ll also enter all of the kids into a raffle to come visit the White House, come spend some time in D.C., and sort of enjoy all that D.C. has to offer,” Mrs. Vance said.

Linsey Davis’ full exclusive interview with second lady Usha Vance will stream Monday at 7 p.m. ET on ABC News Live Prime.

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National

Multiple victims dead, officer shot in ‘traumatic’ domestic violence incident: Police

Nighttime shot of unfurled police tape next to flashing lights from a police car. (halbergman/Getty Images)

(SANDY, Ore) — Multiple people were killed and an officer was shot and wounded in a domestic violence situation in Oregon, officials said.

When officers responded to a shooting and domestic disturbance shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday, the officers came under gunfire and returned fire, Sandy Police Chief Patrick Huskey said at a news conference.

One officer was shot multiple times, Huskey said. The officer has been hospitalized in stable condition and expected to survive, he said.

Multiple victims are dead, the chief said, but he did not say how many victims or their identities.

While the suspect was barricaded in the home, police urged residents to lock their doors and stay inside.

The suspect surrendered around 8 p.m., police said, and the shelter in place order has been lifted.

The chief called the shooting a “traumatic event for our community.”

Sandy Mayor Kathleen Walker said in a statement, “Our Sandy community grieves the unimaginable loss of lives from a domestic violence incident. … Please keep our officer, the victims and their loved ones, and everyone in our community in your thoughts.”

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National

Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial to get underway over a Texas track meet stabbing

The booking photo for Karmelo Anthony. (Frisco Police Department)

(FRISCO, Texas) — The murder trial of a Texas teenager accused of fatally stabbing another student at a high school track meet is set to get underway.

Karmelo Anthony was indicted on first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco, Texas, in April 2025.

Jury selection is scheduled for Monday and Wednesday at the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, according to a court spokesperson. Opening arguments will begin on Thursday if a jury is seated, the spokesperson said.

Judge John Roach has imposed a gag order in the case, restricting what those involved can say, due to the attention the case has garnered.

He has also barred any electronics, including cellphones, from the courtroom during the trial, and no photography, video recording, audio recording or livestreaming are allowed.

“Due to the significant public and media interest in this case, the Court finds that specific procedures are necessary to ensure the Defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial, the orderly administration of justice, the safety and security of all participants, and reasonable public access consistent with constitutional requirements,” he wrote in an order on the trial proceedings.

The deadly stabbing occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2, 2025, during a track and field championship involving multiple schools in the district.

Police said Austin Metcalf, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, was stabbed during an altercation under his school’s tent in the stadium bleachers. Anthony, a then-17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, was taken into custody.

Responding officers said they spoke to multiple witnesses, including one who reported the altercation began after Metcalf told Anthony to move out from under their team’s tent, according to the arrest report.

The witness reported that Anthony allegedly reached inside his bag and said, “Touch me and see what happens,” according to the arrest report.

Metcalf grabbed Anthony to move him, according to a witness in the arrest report, and Anthony allegedly pulled out what the witness described as a black knife and “stabbed Austin once in the chest and then ran away,” the arrest report stated.

Anthony allegedly confessed to the killing and officers say he told them he was protecting himself, according to the arrest report.

Anthony was initially held on $1 million bond, which a Collin County judge reduced to $250,000.

As part of his bond conditions, he has been ordered to be on house arrest, be supervised by a parent or designated adult at all times and have no contact with Metcalf’s family, according to court records. He also needs prior court approval to leave the house, the court records show.

Prior to the gag order being issued, Anthony’s mother spoke out in the wake of the shooting, saying her family “has been under attack.”

“Whatever you think what happened … my three younger children, my husband and I didn’t do anything to deserve to be threatened, harassed and lied about,” his mother, Kala Hayes, said.

“I don’t know why we are being targeted and discriminated against before a fair trial. Our son deserves the same rights under the law that everyone is afforded to,” she said.

On the day of the stabbing, Metcalf’s family said they were heartbroken over what they called the “senseless” act of violence.

“It was really senseless. I don’t know why a person would do that to someone, just over that little argument,” Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter Metcalf, who was at the track meet, told ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA.

“Just doesn’t make any sense,” their mother, Meghan Metcalf, told WFAA. “Just because the kid was mad, my son is not here anymore, and I don’t understand it.”

Hunter accepted a posthumous diploma on his brother’s behalf at his high school graduation on May 22. The emotional moment led to a 30-second standing ovation, WFAA reported.

Following the deadly stabbing, the Frisco Independent School District called it an “unprecedented situation” in an email sent to the high schools that attended the track meet.

“Frisco ISD shares in the grief of everyone impacted by this heartbreaking loss, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the victim’s family, students, staff, and our community during this difficult time,” the district said.

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National

Meteor above New England created loud boom that rocked parts of region: NASA

People in Massachusetts reported hearing a loud boom Saturday afternoon, but it’s not immediately clear what it was. At approximately that same time, NOAA’s GOES-19 weather satellite Geostationary Lightning Mapper showed a burst over the Massachusetts coast. (NOAA)

(NEW YORK) — New England residents were rocked Saturday after a fast-moving meteor in the Earth’s atmosphere sent a loud boom that was heard in parts of the state.

NASA told ABC News in a statement that the meteor, also known as a “fireball,” was detected around 2:06 p.m. and was traveling at a speed of 75,000 mph.

“The meteor appears to have fragmented at an altitude of 40 miles over northeast Massachusetts and southeast New Hampshire. The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tons of TNT, which accounts for the loud noise,” NASA said.

A NASA spokesperson said the fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower but said it was a natural object and not space debris or a satellite re-entering the atmosphere.

NASA later said it “was a daytime bolide that produced” meteorite fragments that fell “in the middle of Cape Cod Bay.”

Several people took to social media in the afternoon to post videos of the sound heard throughout the eastern part of the state.

“We are getting numerous reports from residents of hearing a loud boom sound. It was heard over the eastern part of the state. Unknown origin no reports of hazards at this time,” the Watertown Police Department said in a statement.

The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security said in a statement they also received similar reports of “an audible boom and ground tremors.”

At the time the agency issued its statement, it said there were no known emergency, police or fire requests connected to the boom and there was not believed to be any public safety threat.

The United States Geological Survey said Saturday evening that the boom was from a suspected bolide, which is the scientific term for a meteor that explodes in the atmosphere.

“Unlike earthquakes which occur at discrete location in the earth, sonic boom events occur along a linear path in the atmosphere,” the USGS said.

ABC News’ Matthew Glasser contributed to this report.

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National

Family visitations to resume at New Jersey immigration detention center following violent protests

Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty Images

(NEWARK, N.J.) — Family visitation hours are set to resume on Sunday at the Delaney Hall Immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, following violent clashes between protesters and police that prompted arrests and a mandatory curfew around the facility, according to the state’s governor.

“DHS has met our demand to restore family visitation,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced in a statement on Sunday morning. Visits had been interrupted by the ongoing protest over the alleged poor treatment of detainees at the hall.

“Starting today, limited visitation will resume at noon, and regular visitation hours will be restored beginning tomorrow,” Sherrill said on X, in part.

The governor advised families to contact the Delaney Hall facility for additional details, adding that law enforcement on the scene will help escort families into the facility.

“It is critical that outside actors allow this to happen safely,” Sherrill said at a news conference on Sunday.

“We did not cave to the governor’s demands,” a Department of Homeland Security official told ABC News on Sunday, adding that “visitation was suspended because the violent riots outside the facility made it unsafe for our officers, detainees’ families and lawyers to visit the facility.” 

“With Delaney Hall secure, ICE operations continue as normal,” the official said.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement on Sunday that he conducted an oversight visit to Delaney Hall that morning with New Jersey Reps. Rob Menendez, Josh Gottheimer, and LaMonica McIver.

“The conditions of confinement we witnessed firsthand and discussed with approximately two dozen detainees at the Delaney Hall detention center shock the conscience,” Jeffries said in his statement, in part. “Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just and humane. The Trump administration is doing the exact opposite.”

Jeffries further said that during the oversight visit he and the others in other House members “learned of unsanitary living conditions, lack of adequate medical care and unhealthy food. This is not America.”

“Delaney Hall must be shut down immediately,” Jeffries’ statement said.

The Department of Homeland Security has previously denied the allegations, along with reports that detainees are staging a hunger strike in protest.

In a separate post Sunday morning, Sherrill said that overnight, masked individuals at Delaney Hall, attacked the barrier in the protected protest area outside of the facility and began “aggressive and dangerous actions” against Newark and New Jersey State Police, including “throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and setting tires on fire in the street.”

“These actions put both peaceful protestors and law enforcement in danger,” Sherrill said. “The police were not in protective gear; they had been on location since early in the morning, ensuring protestors and counter protestors had areas to exercise their rights safely.”

“As these dangerous actions took place, additional support was needed to protect civilians and law enforcement,” Sherrill added.

At a press conference later Sunday morning at a State Police facility in Newark, Sherrill said three people were arrested as a result of Saturday night’s clashes with police, including one individual who was charged with illegal possession of a weapon.

The developments came after protests began outside the facility last week and some demonstrators clashed with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

In separate statements released on Friday, Mullin and Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said nine protesters had been arrested. Mullin alleged that some of those who were arrested “bit, kicked, and punched officers.”

In a statement on Saturday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka cited the “escalating situation” and “the increasing need for police intervention” in ordering the curfew for the half-mile around Delaney Hall, which began at 12 a.m. on Sunday and will remain in effect nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A state police official said during Sunday’s press conference with Sherrill that law enforcement was working to secure the area around the facility and will reevaluate whether to allow protesters and the new media to get closer than a half-mile of the facility.

“Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat,” Baraka said in the statement.

Following days of protests, Sherrill ordered state police to establish a perimeter outside of the ICE detainment center.

At a press briefing on Saturday, Sherrill told reporters that six people were arrested on Friday night outside the facility, where tear gas was deployed and some officers on horses helped disperse the crowd.

The governor defended her decision to bring in state law enforcement to the scene.

She called on protesters, who have been challenging the allegedly poor conditions at the Newark detainment center, to “turn the temperature down,” and not give ICE a reason to “exacerbate the situation,” citing incidents in other cities such as Minneapolis.

“I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey. I will not give ICE a pretext to expand operations at Delaney Hall or across our state. I will not put lives at risk,” she said at a news conference.

During Saturday morning’s demonstrations, a handful of pro-ICE demonstrators gathered at the facility.

The pro-ICE crowd, which was dwarfed by the Delaney Hall protesters, arrived with signs, American flags and other paraphernalia supporting the federal agency and its immigration enforcement crackdown.

Activists and Democratic leaders have alleged that the 300 inmates inside the ICE facility are not being properly fed, not receiving medical care and are living in poorly maintained quarters.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has repeatedly condemned the protests.

“Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Law and order will prevail,” he said in an X post Friday.

As police erected protest barriers on Friday night, ICE agents moved inside the building’s perimeter fence.

New Jersey State Police Lt. Col. David Sierotowicz told New York City ABC station WABC that ICE officers agreed to stand down with state police assuming responsibility.

However, tensions escalated between the protesters and state officers, some of whom were wearing riot gear and shields. Tear gas was deployed and protesters were pushed back.

Sherrill said some of the people arrested Friday night were from outside New Jersey and she alleged that outside agitators were in the crowds.

During Saturday’s demonstrations, men wearing clothing with the Proud Boys logo were seen in the pro-ICE protest group.

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement Saturday that most demonstrators complied with an order Friday night to let vehicles through, though she alleged a “limited number did not comply with repeated requests to clear a safe passage for the vehicles.”

Davenport further alleged that some protesters “took dangerous actions, including deploying fireworks and throwing gas canisters at law enforcement, that put everyone in harm’s way.”

The attorney general added that state police did not fire any rubber bullets or use batons during the Friday incident.

Some protesters decried the actions by the officers.

Rachel Cohen, one of the protesters who was at the site Friday, told WABC that she was worried that demonstrators were being silenced.

“It is not helpful to quell protest for the sake of a false peace,” she said. “There is no peace while we are torturing our neighbors on government dime inside this facility.”

The incident was the latest heated clash between Delaney Hall protesters and law enforcement.

Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey was tear-gassed on Monday as he tried to de-escalate the situation. DHS Secretary Mullin told reporters Wednesday that Kim “probably shouldn’t have been there.”

Robert Frazer, the U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey, said Saturday that Brendan John Geier, 26, of Madison, New Jersey, was charged with kicking a federal officer and biting two others during a confrontation at Delaney Hall Thursday. 

Geier was released and prohibited from returning to Delaney Hall, according to Frazer. Attorney information for Geier was not immediately available. 

While Kim and other Democratic leaders have visited the facility and said they saw the poor conditions firsthand, Sherrill said she has been denied access inside.

Sherrill urged protesters to remain peaceful and continue to speak out against the alleged conditions in the detention center.

She also continued her calls on the federal government to allow detainees’ families to have visitation rights and have state health inspectors conduct a full report.

“I’m going to work with federal delegation to get answers,” she said.

ABC News’ Jack Moore and Luke Barr contributed to this report.

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National

Judge rules detained pregnant woman and son cannot spend another night at Dulles Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport is shown on May 22, 2026, in Dulles, Virginia. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge ordered on Friday that a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old son from Ghana cannot spend another night at a Washington, D.C.-area airport where they have been detained for more than a week.

Anabella Gyasi arrived at Dulles International Airport on May 19 with a valid tourist visa to bring her son to the United States for medical treatment, and she had been detained in a holding room by Customs and Border Protection since then, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

ACLU-VA Executive Director Mary Bauer hailed the ruling, saying, “Today the court ordered in no uncertain terms that Ms. Gyasi and her son are not to spend another night in Dulles Airport.”

“Ms. Gyasi’s health and the viability of her pregnancy have both been endangered for more than a week as a result of the Trump administration’s dangerous and unlawful detention practices,” Bauer said, referring to the administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown.

“While we’re relieved that Ms. Gyasi and her son will soon be free from this nightmare, no one should be subjected to the inhumane conditions they endured,” Bauer added.

Gyasi and her son were heading back to Ghana on Friday, a person familiar with the case told ABC News. 

The ACLU filed a habeas petition for Gyasi and her son on Tuesday, alleging they are being detained “despite long-standing regulations and policies requiring that certain at-risk individuals, such as pregnant women and children, be released.” The petition also pointed to a court settlement that requires children to be transferred out of detention within 72 hours.

The 38-year-old mother first brought her son to the U.S. in 2024, when he was 2 years old, to see a specialist for physical abnormalities affecting both of his hands, according to the habeas petition. At that appointment, Gyasi was told her son was too young for corrective surgery.

Earlier this month, Gyasi scheduled a pre-operation appointment at a children’s hospital in Ohio and planned on traveling with the same tourist visa she had previously used, according to her lawyers.

A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed to ABC News on Thursday that Gyasi was in CBP custody at Dulles and said she “will remain in custody pending her immigration hearing.”

The DHS spokesperson called the allegations about the conditions of her detention as “false.” 

“Everyone in CBP custody, including this individual, has access to appropriate care, including medical evaluation by a doctor, medication, and food,” DHS said.

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