ICE warehouse fight brings chaotic meeting to abrupt end in Roxbury

☑️A Roxbury Council meeting ended abruptly after an activist refused to stop speaking

☑️Residents chanted at council members over their handling of the proposed ICE facility

☑️The township is part of a lawsuit to try to stop the project.

ROXBURY — Tuesday night's Roxbury Township Council meeting was abruptly canceled after an ICE activist refused to give up the microphone during public comment and audience members began chanting at council members.

The chaotic meeting came after news that ICE is moving forward with plans to develop a 470,000-square-foot warehouse on Route 46 and has signed a $31 million contract to convert the property. The township is part of a lawsuit seeking to stop the project, which is opposed by both Republicans and Democrats who contend the property is not equipped to serve as a holding facility.

The court has prohibited ICE from making changes to the facility at this point. It can only do maintenance work.

The meeting was filled to capacity, with 90 people in the room and approximately 70 more in an overflow room. Most were members of activist groups opposed to ICE, including Project NINJA, the Sussex Visibility Brigade, NJ 50501 and North Jersey DSA.

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Activist refuses to give up microphone as tensions rise

Despite instructions from the council that public comment during the first of two segments was to be limited to "township-specific business," with each speaker limited to three minutes, speaker Ben Dziobek, executive director of the Climate Revolution Action Network, brought up the warehouse.

As Dziobek continued criticizing the council for its lack of action to stop the project after his allotted time expired, Roxbury Police Chief Matt Holland, who was dressed in street clothes, approached him and told him his time was up.

A gavel was banged from the dais, but Dziobek would not stop speaking, even as the council called a recess and went into executive session. Dziobek spoke with police and stepped away from the podium.

The meeting then turned into an anti-ICE protest as audience members began shouting chants of "No action, no peace," "ICE out" and "Do your job," along with other insults directed at council members over how they have handled the warehouse issue.

After more than 30 minutes, Holland went to the front of the room and announced the meeting was canceled.

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Warehouse purchased by ICE for use as a detention facility on Route 46 in Dover

Activists accuse council of walking away from residents

"The Roxbury Township Council walked out on their own residents tonight," Meg Anandarangam from Northern New Jersey DSA said in a statement. "People have spent the last year doing the work this council should have been doing, and instead of listening to residents, they threatened us with police and refused to hear our concerns. History has shown us what happens when we normalize mass detention, and this council should be ashamed that they're not doing more to stop it."

Roxbury Mayor Shawn Potillo said in a statement that the meeting was canceled because protesters created "significant concerns for public safety and the orderly conduct of Township business."

In a separate statement addressing the warehouse property, Potillo said the township is working with legal counsel to clarify and evaluate recent developments as part of an ongoing effort.

"It is important for residents to understand that Roxbury Township is the local governing body that initiated legal action against the federal government to protect our community. We did not invite this situation, nor did our residents ask for it," Potillo said. "There is no Township official who supports the establishment of this facility in Roxbury and protecting our residents, their property, and their resources is at the heart of this suit."

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