NEWARK - President Donald Trump and his allies want to see New Jersey's Governor melted down at a microphone amid chaos in a reenactment of Minneapolis - only worse. But Trump, after a lifetime of golf course pampering and fretting about what object he can next slap a coat of gold paint on, or what building he can plaster his name on, has no idea what he's dealing with here: a Governor with a crisis management military background, who actually prioritizes people and public safety.

As Trump's private masked and armed squad of private detention center intimidators last night trained on the front lawn of a suburban residential street - in full view of the public, anarchists from out of state invaded the space of well-meaning progressive activists seeking justice for the detainees in Delaney Hall, and a MAGA counter protest mobilized to occupy the east side of the Ironbound, Sherrill made a fast judgment call.

Having already gone to the site herself only to get turned away, she called on the New Jersey State Police to go to Delaney Hall, where a United States Senator has already been pepper sprayed, where a law-abiding Mayor was arrested last year for attempting to ascertain the health and safety of the people inside the facility within his jurisdiction, where a member of Congress defended herself against armed and masked men, and where detainees and their families report on terrible and inhumane conditions amid increasing human desperation.

Sherrill trusted in her people - Acting Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel David Sierotowicz near the top of that list - not Trump's people (if you can find them behind the masks), to ensure law and order and - critically - minimize any threat to human life. Activists did not approve of the way State Police last night mobilized behind riot shields. But against this dangerous backdrop, the alternative - ICE agents behind masks, unaccountable, unassailable, with a terrible, unprofessional record already in the books and Trump determined to project New Jersey as out-of-control, undoubtedly put our state in much graver peril.

When the dust cleared last night, state police reported that five of the six arrested outside Delaney Hall last night were non-New Jerseyans, as the Newark Police Department assumed a stepped-up role today to ensure public safety. The critical work of the activists - assumed in conjunction with federal and state elected officials - continues, as this Governor seeks to close Delaney Hall, ensure compliance of ICE with the law of New Jersey, which requires law enforcement to discard face coverings, and in the meantime wants a deeper health inspection of those detained within the facility.

The delicate balance of public safety and First Amendment rights persists, from hour to hour, moment to moment. The quest for justice goes on, undoubtedly, with a governor here that doesn't invade another state to change the subject, blink in the face of a crisis, fall apart under pressure, fundamentally lack understanding about the most human needs of people, both in the street and in those cells at Delaney Hall, or hide behind masks.

While Trump prays for more chaos to cover up his own crimes, a leader showed up in Newark this afternoon: calm, serious, focused, justice-minded and public safety centered. Her name is Governor Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey. For a VIDEO update on the Delaney Hall situation this afternoon at state police headquarters from Sherrill, see below:

"My focus is on protecting people's rights to protest peacefully and ensuring everyone's safety here in New Jersey," said the Governor. "We can and must do both. We know what ICE has done in other states. We know about the hundreds of injuries they have caused, the fear in communities across the nation, and we know American citizens have been killed, including a mom who had just dropped her child off at school. I refuse to let that happen in New Jersey. I will not give ICE a pretext to expand operations at Delaney Hall or across our state. I will not put lives at risk.

"I am grateful to the vast majority of protesters who have assembled peacefully and raised their voices about Delaney Hall's conditions," the Governor added. "That's exactly where our focus needs to be right now: advocating for better conditions for those inside the facility. We can't let what's happening outside Delaney Hall to take us away from that mission."