The Diaper Story That Fueled a Protest
The public first heard a very tidy tale: Martin Soto, a 31-year-old Peruvian national, was supposedly arrested by ICE agents on February 1 while buying diapers for his child. The claim came from his wife, Gabriela Soto, and it quickly became the kind of story activists and sympathetic media outlets know how to package. A father, diapers, handcuffs, and immigration officers make a ready-made outrage kit. By May, Gabriela was leading a hunger strike tied to Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where she said detainees were facing bad food, poor sanitation, gas fumes, and weak medical care.
Claims Inside Delaney Hall Went National
Gabriela Soto told NJ.com that detainees were being served meals contaminated with worms and mold, and she said her goal was not only to free her husband but every detainee in the facility. She also said she saw her husband resisting as guards forced him into a van while he was handcuffed. The protests then spread into broader demonstrations against ICE tactics and the Trump administration’s deportation policies. She also set up a GoFundMe for her family while Soto was in custody. As usual, the bureaucracy moved slowly, the outrage machine moved fast, and the fact-checking apparently stopped somewhere near the donation button.
The Police Report Tells a Different Story
According to reporting from The Daily Wire’s Jennie Taer, citing a police report obtained by the Oversight Project, Soto was not first arrested by ICE during a diaper errand. The report says he was arrested after allegedly assaulting an unnamed female victim. The document states Soto “purposely” caused “bodily injury” by using his hands, both open and closed, to strike the woman in the face, leaving minor scratches and cuts on her face and neck. The report also alleges he placed a hand over her mouth so she could not scream for help. Those are serious accusations, not a minor footnote hiding behind a soft-focus family photo.
One Viral Narrative Meets the Paper Trail
Scott Mechkowski, a visiting fellow for deportation studies at the Oversight Project, told Taer that the public had been told “a good man was grabbed by ICE while buying diapers,” but that the record showed Soto was arrested by Kearny police, handed to Hudson County, then taken into ICE custody and detained at Delaney Hall while facing an assault charge. Mechkowski also argued that Delaney Hall had been inspected and cleared, even as officers were portrayed as jailers of the innocent. That is the trouble with government-by-hashtag: the slogan gets a head start, and the police report has to chase it wearing dress shoes.
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