Associated Press photojournalist's gear stolen after Newark protest clash

Angelina Katsanis was covering protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark on May 30, 2026, when a wood beam struck her knee during clashes between police and demonstrators. Working on assignment for The Associated Press, she left behind her camera bag after seeking medical attention, then returned in a wheelchair to find it gone.

The missing bag was described in court materials and reporting as holding about $10,000 worth of cameras and related equipment. An Apple AirTag attached to one of the missing items led investigators to a house in Sparta Township, New Jersey. Essex County Prosecutor’s Office Sgt. Darryl Brown, 43, of Sparta Township in Sussex County, was charged on June 4 with third-degree theft and suspended without pay while the investigation continued.

At the center of the case is body camera footage the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General said showed Brown “interacting with a dark colored bag” consistent with Katsanis’s belongings. The Jersey Vindicator filed suit on June 18 seeking release of that video after the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office denied the request on June 10, saying the footage was tied to an active criminal investigation and could interfere with witness interviews and other investigative work.

CJ Griffin, the outlet’s attorney, argues the video was recorded before any investigation into Brown began and does not fit the exemptions prosecutors cited under New Jersey’s body-worn camera law. That law, enacted after the murder of George Floyd, was designed to widen police transparency and limits withholding to four narrow categories. In this case, Griffin says the dispute is not just about one recording, but about whether a public agency can keep back footage that may document the handling of a journalist’s gear during a protest encounter.

The pressure around Delaney Hall has only grown. On June 5, the Committee to Protect Journalists and partner groups condemned the arrest of at least three journalists covering the protests, saying police used crowd kettling and that arrests, assaults and access restrictions threatened First Amendment protections. The National Press Photographers Association said the police actions appeared inconsistent with New Jersey Attorney General guidance on police-press interactions during protest events.

For photographers, the case lands squarely on the job: work the scene, protect the gear, trust the record. When a bag disappears after a blow to the knee, an AirTag points to a police sergeant’s home, and the bodycam becomes the next battlefield, the question is no longer abstract. It is whether photographers can count on the official record when their files, their equipment and their access are on the line.