10°
The two assaults were the only incidents after what had been several hours of orderly demonstrations on Sunday, March 10, that drew thousands of participants and onlookers.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas war stoked concerns over staging such an event, which reportedly involved information on some properties in West Bank settlements that the United States has considered illegal.
Teaneck police made sure order was maintained while a company called “My Home In Israel” advertised its properties at the nearby Congregation Keter Torah.
Officers established zones that allowed protestors to express their sentiments on either side of Roemer Avenue and New Bridge Road and banned parking on certain streets.
The difference maker was a huge assist from tactical Rapid Deployment Force officers -- several of them in riot gear -- from various area police departments, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and the county prosecutor’s office.
Locals treated the officers to food and water, some of it laid out on folding tables.
Meanwhile, synagogue security officers examined bags, had motorists open car trunks and employed under-vehicle search mirrors on wheels.
The event itself offered nearly three dozen vendors who organizers said weren’t there to sell – only to provide information on 100 or so properties, on how to obtain mortgages and other important tax and financial considerations for those who might be interested in buying somewhere down the road.
Township officials worked with community leaders, the event organizers, law enforcement partners and others to devise a plan that maintained order, safeguarded peaceful demonstrators and protected the synagogue and its visitors, Township Manager Dean Kazinci said on Friday.
Kazinci said he was asked to cancel the event but couldn’t because no local or state laws were being broken.
The event was “run by a private company that is renting space at the synagogue for this purpose, as they have done several years at this and other synagogues in Teaneck and at other congregations throughout the United States and Canada,” he said.
SEE: Occupied West Bank Real Estate Fair At Teaneck Synagogue Can’t Be Stopped, Officials Say
Police began assembling around 11 a.m., an hour before the noon event.
“Initially, a large group of protestors assembled at the Teaneck Armory [on Teaneck Road] and marched through Bergenfield, where they joined other protestors in Continental Park on Roemer Avenue, across the street from the temple,” Teaneck Police Chief Andrew McGurr said.
“At approximately 2:00 p.m., a car rally, made up of approximately 25 vehicles, travelled from River Road east on Roemer Avenue through the area of the demonstration.”
Dueling protestors carried Palestinian and Israeli flags.
A crossfire of taunts and profanity got some of those involved riled, but police didn't have reason to act -- at least not until just before 5 p.m.
McGurr explained:
“Toward the end of the demonstration, we received complaints from several different individuals who reported that they and/or their vehicles were sprayed with an unknown red liquid by a woman as they drove past the demonstration area. Another complainant reported that a man tossed an unknown clear liquid onto and into their vehicle as they drove past the demonstration area.”
His officers got together, reviewed video and identified two people, the chief said.
Letticia Freitas, 29, of Worcester, MA, was carrying a 32-ounce spray bottle “containing an unknown red liquid” when she was arrested, McGurr said.
Freitas was charged with five counts each of bias intimidation, criminal mischief and harassment.
Mahdy Suleimen, 20, East Hanover, NJ, was charged with one count each of the same offenses.
Freitas also was charged with simple assault.
Both were issued summonses and released pending first appearances in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
The chief thanked New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the New Jersey State Police, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, the Bergen County Police Chiefs Association and police from Bergenfield, Hackensack and New Milford.
Boyd A. Loving took the photos and contributed to this story.
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