“Outside agitators.” We need more of them, not fewer.

June 2, 2026

Jun 02, 2026

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New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill blamed “people coming from out of state” for the tactics of New Jersey state police who advanced on American citizens protesting outside Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark. Peaceful protestors have been gathering in front of Delaney Hall for months to call attention to the unhealthy, unlawful, and cruel conditions at Delaney Hall, which serves as a permanent detention center for US immigrants awaiting deportation hearings. See Rolling Stone, Inside the Protests at Delaney Hall, the New Front in Trump’s Immigration War | “Inhumane” conditions caused a hunger strike at an ICE facility, leading to massive demonstrations and police crackdowns outside.

While tensions between protesters and ICE officers have been at a low simmer for weeks, the introduction of aggressive New Jersey State police who used pepper spray, flash bang grenades, and (according to some outlets) rubber bullets turned a peaceful protest into a police melee. See op-ed by Will Bunch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Mikie Sherrill’s state police riot in Newark is a national disgrace.

Will Bunch wrote,

For two nights now, a battalion of Sherrill’s New Jersey State Police — who the first-year governor had claimed would “lower the temperature” in Newark — has turned up the heat to 11 by firing rubber bullets, tear-gas canisters, and flash-bang grenades while violently pushing back the demonstrators, both with mounted officers on horseback and with riot shields and batons.

For her part, Governor Sherrill claimed that out-of-state agitators “advanced on” the New Jersey police, which allegedly justified the use of tear gas canisters and flash-bang grenades—tactics used by ICE agents in Minnesota and in cities across America.

Governor Sherrill is attempting to create space between protesters and ICE agents to prevent violence. To date, the tactics of the New Jersey state police have been more confrontational and aggressive than ICE officers as the state police attempt to clear the streets of protesters outside of a state-authorized “protest zone.s”

A favorite tactic of Southern police attempting to discredit the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement was to call them “outside agitators.” Governor Sherrill did not use those words, but she alluded to them by blaming “out-of-state” protesters for provoking the violent tactics adopted by the police.

Of course, violence by anyone is wrong and should be condemned. But it is beneath Governor Sherrill to resort to such tropes in defending the out-of-control tactics of militarized state police. People are free to travel from across the nation to express their support for detainees held under inhumane conditions in Delaney Hall.

The basis for Governor Sherrill’s allusion to outside agitators was that four of the people arrested in the weekend clashes were from New York. (Per Will Bunch, “It’s bad enough that the only evidence offered by Sherrill is that four of six people arrested at Friday’s protest are from New York.”)

The detainees in Delaney Hall are fighting for their safety, health, and due process rights. The protesters outside Delaney Hall are just like the protesters in Minneapolis who stared down ICE and Border Patrol over a bitterly cold winter. Governor Sherrill is new, but her formative experience was in the military—a template that has not translated well to keeping peace in the streets of Newark.

Governor Sherrill has a narrow window of opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to “lowering the temperature” and protecting peaceful protesters who are calling attention to inhumane and unlawful conditions at Delaney Hall. She needs better advisers and political instincts. Blaming a handful of protesters while ignoring (a) the vast majority of peaceful protesters; (b) the militarized response by the state police; and (c) the underlying conditions at Delaney Hall is a failure of leadership and vision on her part.

Her leadership will continue to be tested in the coming weeks and months. Let her know what you think.

In the meantime, America’s problem is not that it has too many so-called outside agitators—a.k.a concerned citizens willing to show up at peaceful protests—but that we do not have enough of them. A special shout-out—from me—to the Bridge Brigade volunteers calling attention to the conditions at Delaney Hall. See the photos below, in Pro-democracy protest photos.

As noted by the author of the Rolling Stone article linked above,

The protests sprang up because of a small, dedicated community response to the mistreatment of a few hundred detainees. The protesters chose this ground, and if what I saw Friday was any indication, they’re determined to stick around.

This will end when enough of us say, “No!”

Trump retreats on $1.8 billion thug fund; more work to be done.

Senate Republicans told Trump that his $1.8 billion thug fund would not receive Republican support in Congress. Trump abandoned the fund, and the DOJ issued a false and misleading statement that characterized a brief, temporary restraining order as if it were a substantive ruling against the fund. In effect, Trump tried to blame the courts for his decision to abandon the fund. See Newsweek, Trump’s DOJ Says It Will Drop ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Amid GOP Revolt, Court Ruling.

It is true that two courts ordered briefing on the fund’s legality, but no court has actually declared it illegal. Rather, they have limited the creation or distribution of the fund pending briefing and hearing on the merits.

In short, Trump was looking for a way to beat a hasty retreat from an idea that literally sent Republicans fleeing for the hills last week. Blaming the courts was the best he could do in covering his disastrous political miscalculation.

The issue of the trust fund is not over. Although the fund will not be created or funded (for now), it was part of a fraudulent settlement with the IRS and DOJ that released Trump, his businesses, and family members from all obligations to file truthful tax returns and pay taxes owed over the last twenty years.

The thug fund was illegal. So was the IRS release granted to Trump, his family, and businesses. Judge Kathleen Williams is considering reopening the case filed by Trump against the IRS in Florida to determine if any lawyers involved in the case violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.

As I wrote several days ago, Todd Blanche will be lucky if the only legal consequence for him is losing his law license. The collusive settlement agreement effectively attempted to steal $1.8 billion from the US Treasury. The immunity from IRS audits and payments was granted for no consideration. It is difficult to imagine circumstances under which such an effort did not violate multiple criminal laws.

Todd Blanche should give up his dreams of becoming US Attorney General and should spend his days “lawyering up” for a withering congressional investigation and (if he is not pardoned), a potential criminal indictment.

But the investigations must continue. Judge Kathleen Williams will consider a motion to reopen Trump’s case against the IRS (in the Southern District of Florida) to determine if the lawyers perpetrated a “fraud upon the court.” And a separate lawsuit filed by the Democracy Forward Fund in the Eastern District of Virginia will continue to challenge the legality of the settlement under the Administrative Procedures Act.

It will take a while—maybe during the next administration—but Trump’s grant of IRS immunity will also be set aside.

Coda: So, those are the facts, and they are important. But the most important part of the story is that the strong public backlash against the thug fund highlighted the weakening of Trump’s political power. He can no longer bully Senate Republicans into defending politically toxic ideas. The damage he has inflicted on the economy has eroded any benefit of the doubt that once existed among independents, reluctant Republicans, and Latino and Black voters who supported Trump in 2024.

People are mad about Trump’s broken promises, seen through the prism of gasoline prices—a cruel and frequent reminder of the damage Trump has inflicted on the economy and the American people. Unless and until Trump reverses damage from the tariffs, DOGE, and his war against Iran, he has no margin for error. Sadly, the negotiations to end the Iran war and to re-open the Strait of Hormuz are on rocky ground. Read on!

Iranian peace talks nearly collapse on Monday.

Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz entirely and end peace negotiations as the Israeli Prime Minister ordered the Israeli army to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon over the weekend. See The Guardian, Iran threatens to suspend peace talks after ‘violation of ceasefire’ in Lebanon.

Iran’s threat to walk away from peace talks led to a shouting match between Trump and Netanyahu about Israel’s resumption of attacks into Lebanon. See Axios, Trump to Netanyahu in call on Israel striking Lebanon: “You’re f-cking crazy”. The details of the phone call between Trump and Netanyahu suggest that Trump is preparing to blame Netanyahu for Trump’s inability to negotiate a peace deal with Iran.

As of late Monday evening, Trump’s official position was, “I don’t care” if peace negotiations with Iran are over. In an astounding set of remarks to CNBC, Trump said the following about the possible collapse of the Iran peace talks:

I don’t care if they’re over, honestly. I really don’t care. I couldn’t care less. If they’re over, they’re over. If they’re not . . . I think [Iran] took too much time.
Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring . . . They were giving us what we needed, but I think… they handled the negotiations poorly. It took too long.

See CNBC, Trump tells CNBC: ‘I don’t care’ if Iran negotiations are over.

It is insulting and offensive to the men and women of the US military who are deployed in the Middle East for Trump’s “war of choice” for him to say that peace negotiations are “boring.” Their lives are on the line; they have been away from their families for extended periods, and Trump is “bored.”

Opportunity for Reader Engagement

Walk the Walk, Sunday, June 7

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Walk the Walk USA —June Recommendations

Sunday, June 7, 4:30pm PT / 7:30pm ET: Reserve your spot.

Force Multiplier highlights three Democratic women who can help flip the House!

Join Force Multiplier on June 4 at 7 pm ET to Zoom with three women who will help us flip seats and win the House in November. Register and Donate Here!

JoAnna Mendoza (AZ 06) is challenging a two-term incumbent in a district that Trump carried by a narrow 1-point margin. Mendoza served in both the Navy and the Marines.

Sarah Trone Garriott (IA 03) is challenging a two-term incumbent who won by 4% in ’24. Sarah is a minister, a mom, a non-profit leader, and an Iowa state senator who flipped two seats from red to blue, then won a district that went to Trump in ‘24.

Denise Powell (NE 02) is running in a district that is among the most evenly divided in the nation, with a slim D+0.8 margin. Powell, a Latina, is a former corporate executive, small-business owner, health-care advocate, and public-school supporter.

Concluding Thoughts

Trump does not have superpowers. Merely because he engages in or announces an action that violates the Constitution does not mean he will succeed. True, the Supreme Court and congressional Republicans have given him unholy support. But the federal courts have stopped him more often than not.

Because the judicial process is slow, we often mistake lack of prompt action with no action. Trump is weak and on the run. Two federal judges and public outcry over the thug fund were enough to stop an abomination of justice.

There is a lesson in that for all of us: Resist 100% of the time. We don’t have to win every battle; just most of them, over time. We are doing that, as the last two weeks have demonstrated. Keep up the good work!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Pro-democracy protest photos

Send to rbhubbell@gmail.com. Include city and state.

Pleasant Hill, Ca. 5-30 Indivisible resisters and CTD we

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Lafayette CA, every Tuesday rally 5-26

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Clearwater, FL’s Operation Overpass just celebrated our 1st anniversary

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Englewood Florida

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Hunterdon County NJ Interstate 78 overpass

It was another beautiful day on the bridge! Thanks to the 50+ members and four dogs who joined us. One brief, pleasant visit from the Clinton Police Department near the end- thanks to one MAGA whose feelings we must have hurt!

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