EMBRACE PROTEST, THEN CALL CURFEW

New Jersey’s finest political theater took a hard turn from moral pageant to emergency curfew, with Gov. Mikie Sherrill going from embracing protesters outside Newark’s ICE detention center to, just 24 hours later, discovering that throwing projectiles, grabbing barriers, and setting fires tends to complicate the whole “peaceful demonstration” brand. Mayor Ros J. Baraka, suddenly cast as the reluctant stage manager, had to cordon off a half-mile radius after admitting some arrested protesters were carrying weapons, which is a bold new method of lobbying: present your grievance, then help yourself to the emergency response budget. Sherrill blamed out-of-state agitators and insisted New Jersey remains committed to public safety and dignity, a statement that somehow survives the fact that local police were being assaulted while the city tried to keep the flames from becoming the main character. It was the sort of civic performance in which everyone applauds the cause right up until the props turn out to be rocks, barricades, and a working lighter.