Man charged with threatening to kill ICE officer as protests continue outside New Jersey detention facility

By Chris Boyette, CNN

(CNN) — Days of protests outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, have led to clashes between demonstrators and officers and a handful of arrests. Now, one New York man faces federal charges alleging he threatened to kill an ICE officer and his family.

A criminal complaint filed Saturday accuses Nicholas Matthew Scelfo, 27, of Brooklyn, New York, of making the threats during protests last week outside Delaney Hall – a privately owned, 1,000-bed facility where detainees have alleged inhumane conditions for months.

But tensions escalated over Memorial Day weekend as hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest spoiled food and wretched conditions, some of their lawyers said.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied those allegations and has continued to push back against the allegations of inhumane living conditions.

When asked about recent protests at Delaney Hall, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said demonstrators can exercise their First Amendment right so long as they do so peacefully.

“When you’re threatening the lives of an officer, that’s verbal assault,” Mullin said during news conference Monday. “When you threaten the lives of their family, that’s verbal assault.”

When you spit on an officer, when you put hands on an officer, when you touch our vehicles, that is assaulting federal property and assaulting a federal officer,” he added.

During protests on May 27, Scelfo allegedly pointed his finger toward an ICE officer working crowd control outside the facility and yelled “I’ll kill your whole f***ing family. Your whole whole f***ing family is dead! Your children, your wife, all dead… you’re dead,” according to the complaint.

CNN has been unable to identify an attorney representing Scelfo, and one was not listed in court documents as of Monday afternoon.

According to the complaint, the same ICE officer had hit Scelfo twice in the leg with a baton during a physical altercation.

“Calling for the murder of a federal law enforcement officer and his family is not speech safeguarded by the Constitution; it is a grave criminal offense that will not be tolerated,” Acting Special Agent in Charge Spiros Karabinas of Homeland Security Investigations in Newark said in a statement.

FBI Director Kash Patel said, in a post on X, investigators tracked Scelfo down using facial recognition technology.

“Let this be a message to any criminal actor who may try something similar…” Patel said.

Law enforcement used motor vehicle records including a driver’s license photograph to identify Scelfo, according to the complaint.

During police questioning, Scelfo admitted to threatening to kill the officer and his family, according to the complaint.

Scelfo faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.

As of Monday afternoon, the area around Delaney Hall was calm, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement posted to X.

“New Jersey State Police will continue to assist local law enforcement in keeping communities safe and protecting the constitutional right to peacefully protest,” Davenport’s statement said.

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