<\/p>\n
John Mark Rozendaal<\/span> was just trying to play music.<\/p>\n On May 29, along with scores of others, Rozendaal responded to calls on social media to gather outside of Delaney Hall, the immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey.<\/p>\n The privately run U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility had, in recent weeks, become the site of daily protests, spurred by a detainee hunger strike against alleged ghastly conditions<\/a> inside.<\/p>\n When Rozendaal went to Delaney Hall, he took his cello with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI consider music to be a de-escalatory thing to do,\u201d he told The Intercept.\u00a0\u201cI sat down on the concrete barricade facing north and started to play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe agent said, \u2018We\u2019re calling because you were arrested at Delaney Hall.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n That night, however, the scene outside Delaney Hall quickly took a violent turn. New Jersey State Police and ICE agents issued a dispersal order and began to clear protesters from the area by force \u2014 with officers deploying chemical weapons and charging protesters on horseback.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs I played, I saw this wall of plastic riot shields and cops in tactical gear advancing,\u201d Rozendaal recalled. \u201cThere were tear gas canisters flying overhead. I could see horses behind the riot shields, flash-bangs. So it was quite dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n Moments later, Rozendaal was arrested by the New Jersey State Police and, according to an arrest report viewed by The Intercept, charged with one count of obstructing law enforcement. The charge was minor \u2014 but a week later, things took a strange turn when Rozendaal received a call from the FBI.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe agent said, \u2018We\u2019re calling because you were arrested at Delaney Hall,\u2019\u201d Rozendaal told The Intercept. (The FBI declined to comment.)<\/p>\n In the following minutes, Rozendaal said the agents asked if he would be willing to provide the FBI with information on protesters that they described as \u201canybody planning to go to Delaney Hall with not the right intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I mean, they were asking me to inform,\u201d Rozendaal said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Rozendaal is not the only Delaney Hall protester to receive a call from the FBI.<\/p>\n In the weeks since arrests began stacking up at the protests \u2014 approximately 90 people have been arrested so far \u2014 at least half of those taken into custody have received calls from federal agents looking for information, according to Benjamin Van Meter, a deputy public defender with the Essex County Public Defender\u2019s Office who represents a number of protesters facing charges.<\/p>\n Van Meter lodged a complaint with authorities over the matter, claiming the FBI contact with his clients violated their constitutional rights.<\/p>\n The phone number used to contact Rozendaal, according to call history logs reviewed by The Intercept, is registered to the FBI\u2019s New York field office and is posted online as an anonymous tipline.<\/p>\n Rozendaal said he rejected the offer immediately and, when the agent attempted to question him further, invoked his right to remain silent, ending the conversation.<\/p>\n The FBI has a long track record of trying to turn protesters<\/a>, political dissidents<\/a>, and ethnic and religious minorities<\/a> into informants. The strategy, which is still commonly<\/a> used today<\/a>, can serve agents by both collecting information while stoking distrust<\/a> among members of political movements and religious communities, according to Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union\u2019s New Jersey chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cWith every major protest movement in United States history, there have been attempts at infiltration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u201cWith every major protest movement in United States history, there have been attempts at infiltration and attempts to disrupt them and to sow discord,\u201d Sinha said. \u201cThe FBI has repeatedly been on the wrong side of history every time they\u2019ve tried these tactics of infiltration.\u201d<\/p>\n Sinha said it was important for anyone approached by federal agents to remember their right to remain silent<\/a> and to ask for an attorney to be present for any questioning.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless the FBI produces a warrant, you have the right to refuse entry, \u201d Sinha said. \u201cYou certainly have the right to stay silent and to demand a lawyer. You are not under any obligation to speak to them about anything \u2014 especially if they are charging you with a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Mainstay FBI Tactic<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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