2 Essex County Protests Took Coronavirus Break, Now They’re Back

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A pair of long-running protests in Essex County are rebooting after taking a coronavirus-related break.

On Monday, the Roseland Against the Compressor Station coalition (RACS) will restart its monthly “visibility vigils” along Eagle Rock Avenue in Roseland, which its members have been doing for more than year.

The May 18 vigil is slated to take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. (Learn more here)

The vigils – which are being held to protest the expansion of a natural gas compressor station – were suspended in March because of the pandemic.

“We’re doing this because the parks have been opened up and apparently it’s going OK,” RACS member Ted Glick wrote in an email.

According to Glick, protesters will flash signs to passing vehicles. They are being asked to wear face masks and spread out at least 10 feet apart.

“We will let people know that we continue to work against the polluting compressor and for a future when no gas goes through it because we’ve changed as a society from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar,” Glick said.

• See related article: Essex County Protesters Tell Gov. Murphy To Halt Compressor Expansion
• See related article: Activists vs. Pipeline; 2 Arrests At Essex County Protest

PROTESTING IN THE NAME OF AHMAUD ARBERY

Last week, the Newark-based People’s Organization For Progress (POP) held its first rally since the coronavirus shelter-in-place order began in the Brick City.

The POP's anti-police brutality “Justice Mondays,” one of the longest-running protests in the state, has become a fixture in Newark. The weekly rally had been faithfully observed for more than four years – rain or shine – at the Peter Rodino Federal Building every Monday until March, when the coronavirus crisis temporarily shut it down.

"We want everyone to be safe," said founding chairman Lawrence Hamm, a U.S. Senate candidate in 2020. "We'll look at it again when conditions return to normal."

On Wednesday, the POP held its first post-coronavirus rally, coming together to condemn the death of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed black man who was fatally shot by two white men while running in Georgia.

The rally also condemned alleged instances of “racist social distancing policing” in Jersey City and New York City, organizers said.

Prior to last week’s event, organizers said the aim wasn’t to create a “mass rally” with thousands of participants, only a small gathering that abides by safety guidelines.

“We have suspended almost all of our protest activity to comport with these needed public safety guidelines,” Hamm said. “When we are out there, we will proceed in according to current social distancing guidelines.”

READ MORE: NJ Coronavirus Updates (Here's What You Need To Know)

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