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Saturday, dec 28
Tag:
George Floyd
News
Final Defendant In Trenton Police Car Firebombing Gets 27 Months In Fed Pen
UPDATE: A Trenton man who threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail into a city police vehicle following a protest was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison. Kadeem A. Dockery, 31, is the last of four defendants sentenced in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 31, 2020 protest in Trenton. Video captured by surveillance cameras and personal cellphones helped authorities identify Dockery, who was arrested a little over two months later, and Killian F Melecio, 22, of Columbus, NJ. Rather than face trial, Dockery took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in May 2021 to attemptin…
News
Black NJ Teen Pinned In Viral Video Hires Lawyer Who Repped George Floyd, Breonna Taylor
The nationally renowned civil rights attorney who represented the families of George Floyd, Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery has been retained by the New Jersey teen pinned to the ground and handcuffed by police during a mall fight. Benjamin Crump announced he has been retained to help 14-year-old Z’Kye Husain, who he said was standing up for a middle schooler being bullied by an 11th grader at the Bridgewater Commons last Saturday. The video shows officers forcefully pinning Z’Kye to the ground with their arms and legs handcuffing him, while the white teen involved in the fi…
News
Middlesex Man Who Torched Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest Gets 2 Years In Fed Pen
UPDATE: A Middlesex County man must spend the next two years in federal prison for stuffing a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and setting it on fire during a riot in Trenton following a protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield originally claimed on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. Spry and two other men involved in the arson attack took deals from the government rather than go to trial. All must serve out their entire sentences because there's no parole in…
News
Cold
CASE: Killer Of Rockland Teen In Notorious Bergen Motel Got Away, Is He Around Today?
The morning was relatively warm for December when the body of a slain 18-year-old Rockland County girl was found at an infamous Route 17 motel in Bergen County. Someone killed Rosetta Jean-Baptiste by “mechanical asphyxiation” -- similar to what happened to George Floyd. Only this was 28 years ago. Her parents didn’t know it, but Jean-Baptiste was also pregnant with a boy who was close to full term. He died, as well. The killer was never found. Members of a special cold case unit made up of investigators from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and New Jersey State Police are still h…
News
Last Of Trenton Police Car Firebombers Pleads Guilty In Federal Court
A Trenton man caught on video torching a police car during a riot in the city took a guilty plea in federal court. Earlja J. Dudley, 28, is the last of four men to plead guilty for their roles in the incident following what had been a peaceful day of protest against the death of George Floyd on May 31, 2020. Surveillance and bystander video show Dudley and another man opening the vehicle’s engine and igniting a fire during the unrest, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. In the video, Dudley is wearing a tank top and baseball cap with the Roman numerals “XIV” in red l…
News
First Convict Sentenced Federally In Trenton Protest Firebombings
UPDATE: A South Jersey man was sentenced today to 28 months in federal prison for trying to set fire to a police cruiser during a video-recorded riot that broke out following a peaceful protest last year in Trenton. Killian F. Melecio, 20, of Columbus must serve just all of the sentence because there's no parole in the federal prison system. Melecio admitted via video conference in U.S. District Cout in Trenton earlier this year that he stuffed a shirt he’d gotten from another man into the gas tank of the vehicle and tried to ignite it on May 31, 2020. The protest earlier that day in respo…
News
Newark's Brand New 700-Pound George Floyd Statue Defaced
The 700-pound George Floyd statue erected at City Hall was defaced overnight, authorities said Thursday. A Newark police sergeant traveling in the area of City Hall just before 6 a.m., noticed the bronze statue was defaced with graffiti, according to Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Public Safety Director Brian A. O’Hara. The face of the statue was also painted black, and in white paint on the torso of the statue were the words -- “LIFE…LIBERTY VICTORY PATRIOTFRONT.US”. The Newark Police Division immediately began an investigation, which remains ongoing, and the City's Public Works Depa…
News
Final Defendant In Trenton Police Car Firebombing Takes Guilty Plea In Federal Court
A Trenton man admitted in federal court on Wednesday that he threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail into a city police vehicle following a protest last year. Video captured by surveillance cameras and personal cellphones helped authorities identify Kadeem A. Dockery, 29, and one of his co-defendants, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said. Rather than face trial, Dockery accepted a deal from the government, pleading guilty Wednesday to attempting to obstruct, impede, or interfere with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. He still faces state charges of throwing another firebom…
Schools
Daughter Of Jersey City Teacher Who Went On Racist Tirade During Class Apologizes To Students
"You did nothing to deserve this treatment." That's the message Aliya Jackson had for the Jersey City's Dickinson High School students who sat helplessly in an online class her father went on a racist and profane tirade, according to NJ Advance Media. Twice. Howard Zlotkin, who taught the Landscape Design class at Dickinson High School, has since been suspended for the incidents in which he vocalized his sentiments on the Black Lives Matter movement, George Floyd and more, students told NBC New York. "I hear people whining and crying about Black Lives Matter," Zlotkin says, "but Geor…
Police & Fire
'
F---
The Pigs': Twitter Slams Jersey City Mayor Following Police Brutality Protest
Twitter users are slamming Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop for condemning hate speech used against police officers during a peaceful protest over the weekend. Fulop's video depicts nearly 100 marchers chanting "F--- the pigs" while marching down a city street toward a police vehicle. 1/2 About this demonstration yesterday in JC w/repeated chants of “Fuck the Pigs”... I’ll be the 1st to say that Civil Demonstrations, criticism, & protests are welcome here in #JerseyCity, our nation's history has proven it’s produced changes in govt. BUT What we can’t... pic.twitter.com/LYBsgKhMS3 — S…
Police & Fire
FBI: Middlesex Man Admits Trying To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest
UPDATE: A Middlesex County man admitted Tuesday that he stuffed a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and set it on fire during a riot in Trenton following what had been a peaceful protest last year over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 22, of South Plainfield took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, becoming the second of three men involved in the incident to admit their roles. Spry originally tried claiming on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but federal authorities produced surveillance video showing otherwise. “Law enforcement officers on scene ob…
News
Trenton Rioter Threw Makeshift Molotov Cocktail At State Troopers, New Indictment Charges
A Trenton man already charged federally with throwing a makeshift Molotov cocktail into a city police vehicle following a protest last year now faces charges of throwing another at New Jersey State Police troopers moments later. The troopers were subduing another rioter when Kadeem Dockery, 29, crouched behind the Trenton police SUV, threw the device at them and ran, an indictment returned by a state grand jury in Trenton charges. The device “exploded at the feet of the troopers, causing one to suffer temporary loss of hearing,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. The May…
News
Prosecutor: Asbury Park Police Justified In Arresting Reporter During Protest
Asbury Park police were justified in arresting a newspaper reporter during a June protest, authorities said Wednesday. An internal affairs investigation led by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office concluded that the Asbury Park officers who arrested APP journalist Gustavo Martinez Contreras during the June 1 George Floyd protest "reasonably believed he was one of the protestors," Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said. "Arresting officers had no knowledge they were apprehending a reporter." Martínez was covering the demonstration for APP.com and arrested while live-stream…
Police & Fire
Duo Charged With Vandalizing Police Cars During Newark Protests
Two men were charged after vandalizing marked police cars during protests in Newark, authorities said. Eric Stone, 29, of New York and Julio Rodriguez, 27, of New Brunswick vandalized the cars at the First Police Precinct on 17th Avenue in Newark during protests on May 30, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens, II, and Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose said in a joint release. Rodriguez and Stone were arrested on June 4. “While we fully support the public’s right to conduct peaceful protests, we cannot turn a blind eye to individuals who blatantly commit …
Police & Fire
FBI Agents Arrest Accused Arsonist Who Torched Trenton Police Car On Social Media
FBI agents on Wednesday arrested a Trenton man who they said was caught on video torching a police car during a riot in the city last month. Bystander video shows Earlja J. Dudley, 27, and another man opening the vehicle’s engine and igniting a fire during unrest that followed what had been a peaceful day of protest against the death of George Floyd on May 31, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said Wednesday. In the video, Dudley is wearing a tank top and baseball cap with the Roman numerals “XIV” in red lettering, along with distinctive green, black and white sneakers, Carpenito said. Invest…
Police & Fire
Longtime Leonia Firefighter Resigns Over 'Indefensible' Post About Asian American Protester
A string of racist insults on Facebook against a young Asian-American protester has cost a volunteer of nearly 45 years his ranking positions with the Leonia Fire Department. It began with a post by a fellow firefighter of a photo taken during a protest in Leonia against the death of George Floyd. A young woman in the photo holds a sign that says “F(***) THE POLICE”. "To my Leonia people, who is this and how do you think this is peaceful?" a comment attached to the photo asked. A thread of nearly 300 comments followed -- many sharing the poster’s anger -- before the June 8 post was remove…
Police & Fire
Authorities Suspend NJ Corrections Officer Involved In Counterprotest Mocking Floyd Death
State authorities said they’ve suspended a corrections officer who participated in the recording of what they called a "hateful and disappointing video" in which one man kneeled on the neck of another during a counter-protest to a "Black Lives Matter" march. In videos of the incident that continued to spread Wednesday, police-escorted protesters marching down a Franklin Township street in Gloucester County on Monday pass a group of men reenacting George Floyd’s death on a private property stacked with firewood for sale. A pickup truck bears an American flag and a “Trump 2020” banner, while …
Lifestyle
Life After Layoff: Matawan Man Uses Time Off To Photograph Historic Moments
A row of orange barriers was the only thing that separated Patrick O'Brien from a line of police officers at the Asbury Park rally for social injustice and police brutality. As protestors rallied around him, the moment seemed surreal to O'Brien. Nearly three months prior at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was laid off from his job. It was a position he'd held for five years. His future seemed uncertain -- everything seemed uncertain. But there he was -- at the rally. In the front row alongside the protestors. His camera in his hands, watching as a black officer in the line facing hi…
Police & Fire
Cancelled
:
Cops
TV Show Gone For Good
After 32 seasons, one of the longest-running reality series ever is gone for good – not just from TV but online, as well. "COPS" has been permanently cancelled. "We don't have any current or future plans for it to return," the Paramount Network said in a statement. The ViacomCBS-owned cable networknetwork stopped airing the series on June 1 – scrapping the Season 33 premiere on Monday -- in what was described a s temporary move. It’s now final. Not only that: Paramount axed all traces of the show from its website. A pioneer of the real-police documentary series format, “Cops” helped turn…
Politics
President Postpones Trump National Golf Trip To Central Jersey
President Donald Trump canceled his weekend trip to his private golf resort in Somerset County. Despite the coronavirus and statewide George Floyd protests against police brutality, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a no-fly zone for Bedminster and Morristown for "VIP movement" this weekend, raising the possibility of a presidential visit to Trump National Golf Club. Instead, President Trump will fly to Maine on Friday, and return to the golf club in Bedminster next Friday, June 13, for a planned re-election campaign fundraiser. Trump is now expected to visit a Maine manufactu…
Police & Fire
'Burn This (Expletive) Down!': Atlantic City Man's Posts Urged Violence Against Police
Carlos A. Matchett of Atlantic City kept furiously posting messages on Facebook for days urging violence against police – right up until FBI agents arrested him on rioting charges Wednesday. “LET’S START A RIOT” Matchett, 30, wrote in one. “Burn This M*****f****r Downnn!!!” read another. Matchett also shared a post that said, in part: “The point of a riot isn’t to solve anything. The point is to f**k sh*t up since nothing could be solved to begin with.” Then came the so-called smoking gun: A cellphone video that federal authorities said showed him helping people loot goods from smashed …
Police & Fire
Charges Against Officer In Floyd Killing Upgraded, 3 Other Officers Also Charged
Minnesota's attorney general upgraded charges on Wednesday to second-degree murder against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into the neck of George Floyd -- and charged three other officers at the scene with aiding and abetting the killing. "I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr. Floyd, his family, our community and our state," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said. Derek Chauvin, who had his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes -- an incident recorded on cellphone video -- initially was charged with thi…
Business
Report: American Dream Developer Misses Payments On $1.4B Mortgage For Mall Of America
The developer of the American Dream Mall in East Rutherford has missed two monthly payments on its $1.4 billion mortgage for the Mall of America in Minnesota, media reports say. Triple Five put up 49 percent interest in the Minnesota mall along with a second mall in Canada as collateral to obtain a $1.67 billion loan for the construction of the American Dream, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mortgage services Wells Fargo & Co. reportedly confirmed the missed payments with NorthJersey.com Tuesday. Citing the ongoing turmoil following the death of George Floyd, the Minnesota mall has po…
Police & Fire
FBI: Middlesex Man Tried To Torch Trenton Police Car Following Floyd Protest
Federal authorities seized a Middlesex County man who they said stuffed a rag into the gas tank of a police cruiser and tried to set it on fire during a riot that erupted in Trenton following what had been a peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd. Justin Spry, 21, of South Plainfield tried claiming on Twitter that he was brutalized by police, but U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Craig Carpenito said that surveillance video captured him and an accomplice trying to torch the police car Sunday night. “Law enforcement officers on scene observed Spry as he attempted to ignite the vehicle,” …
News
HelloFresh Cuts Ties With Bergen County Native Lea Michele Amid Racism Allegation
HelloFresh ended its partnership with Tenafly native Lea Michele amid a racism accusation made by her former "Glee" costar. Michele on Monday tweeted her support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement when Samantha Ware accused her of making her life a "living hell" while working together on the sixth season of the show. “LMAO REMEMBER WHEN YOU MADE MY FIRST TELEVISON GIG A LIVING HELL?!?! CAUSE ILL NEVER FORGET,” Ware, 28, said in the tweet. “I BELIEVE YOU TOLD EVERYONE THAT IF TOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD ‘S–T IN MY WIG!’ AMONGST OTHER TRAUMATIC MICROAGR…
News
Complete Rundown Of George Floyd Marches, Vigils Planned Across Garden State
Many more marches and other demonstrations in memory of George Floyd are planned in New Jersey and across the nation this week. Protests over Floyd’s death in Minneapolis have swept across the country Four Minnesota police officers who were at the scene of Floyd’s death were fired, and one of them, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. At least seven such rallies were set for Tuesday, June 2 including: In Princeton, the Coalition for Peace in Princeton will hold a peaceful protest at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Nassau and Witherspoon streets. In Kean…
News
Racial, Prejudiced Text Messages Between Paramus Students Prompt Investigation
Paramus police and school officials are investigating a series of racial remarks shared by students on social media in light of the recent events following the death of George Floyd. The screenshots of a group text messages were widely circulated on social media. At least two people sent racist and prejudiced messages against members of the gay community, women and black people. “The Paramus Board of Education, the administration, staff, student body, community, and many others outside of Paramus are justifiably outraged by these messages,” Superintendent Michele Robinson said. Paramu…
Police & Fire
Photos
: Charge Dropped For Asbury Park Journalist Arrested Reporting On Protest
The charge against the Asbury Park Press reporter arrested during Monday's protest will be dropped, authorities said on Tuesday. Gustavo Martinez Contreras was arrested as police tried to clear people from the street in a protest of George Floyd's killing. “I know that officers face enormous challenges while maintaining order during a chaotic situation,” Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said on Twitter Tuesday. “But I’ve discussed this matter with local authorities and they will be dismissing the charge today. We will also figure out why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen…
News
Huge Number Of NJ Protests Peaceful, Powerful, Only Trenton, Atlantic City Get Riotous
Nearly all of the protests in New Jersey this weekend over the death of George Floyd were peaceful -- with authorities joining the demonstrators to help underscore their message, although were damaging enough to steal the spotlight. What had been a peaceful protest that included police officers kneeling in solidarity in Trenton later erupted into more than 1,000 rioters rampaging through downtown, throwing bricks at officers, setting a police car on fire and looting businesses. The same was true in Atlantic City, which Mayor Marty Small was "under siege" Sunday by those who took …
Police & Fire
President: Out-Of-State Agitators Hijacking Peaceful Protests Will Be Prosecuted
Peaceful protests across the country have been "hijacked by outside radicals and agitators exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda," Attorney General William P. Barr said Saturday. Meanwhile, President Trump called on "Liberal Governors and Mayors” to get “much tougher” in dealing with protesters “or the Federal Government will step in and do what has to be done, and that includes using the unlimited power of our Military and many arrests.” “Crossing State lines to incite violence is a FEDERAL CRIME!" Trump tweeted. Protesters rallied peacefully in Englewoo…
Police & Fire
NJ County Prosecutors: Citizens Can Trust They'll Be Treated Fairly, Justly By Police
A public letter from New Jersey's 21 county prosecutors promises that members of law enforcement in the state will treat citizens "fairly and justly" -- and that those who don't will be held accountable. The letter from the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey, released Saturday morning, comes in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of police in Minneapolis and an investigation of the officers by local and federal authorities there. County prosecutors are the chief law enforcers in New Jersey under the direction of Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. Here is the CPANJ …
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