Fair Lawn Council Will Address Recent Events As Activists Protest

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Videos and images from an Aug. 3 pro-police rally paint a picture of a picture of a town divided.

Pro-police demonstrators — some wearing and carrying white nationalist symbols — march through Fair Lawn, eventually greeted by a smaller group of counterprotesters.

The event quickly became tense, with uniformed officers donning riot gear separating the two sides as words were exchanged.

What followed was a call for further action.

Now, on Tuesday, a silent vigil has been scheduled as the Fair Lawn Borough Council will answer questions that came from last week's events.

So what brought us here, and what do you know about the events of tonight?

Dueling Demonstrations

Fair Lawn played home to two protests, one pro-police, one in support of Black Lives Matter, on Monday, Aug. 3.

In a flyer posted to Facebook, the pro-police event organizers said that following "recent unrest in our country," the event was to show that "in Fair Lawn, hate and discrimination have no home."

This statement indicates the march was in response to the protests which swept the country after the death of George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man who died with the knee of a white police officer on his neck.

Local activists were quick to point out what they felt was the irony in the statement.

So they organized their own protest. On the same day, at the same time, and at the same location.

"We all have the right to protest and rally, however we equally have the right to completely disagree with the intentions of this rally," read the protest flyer on Twitter.

Videos from both sides of the protest show that, eventually, a silent protest wasn't the end result.

In a video taken by one BLM protester, shouting can be heard from both sides as officers from the Bergen County rapid deployment force and Fair Lawn Police Department face them.

On the other side, a video of pro-police protesters posted online show a heightened level of tension once their march encounters BLM protesters on the opposite side of the street.

Pro-police demonstrators are seen shouting at a woman holding a sign reading "Black Lives Matter" out the window of her car, as she shouts back. Some waved President Donald Trump's campaign flag in front of the car. Many protesters on video can be seen carrying these, and other, pro-police flags.

The man recording the video is seen wearing a black facemask with the insignia of the Three Percenters, an anti-government group which is part of the "militia movement," according to the Anti Defamation League.

Three Percenters have long been associated with white nationalism, in particular after members were present at 2017's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. After days of protests there ended violently, the group's national council issued a statement trying to separate themselves from white supremacy.

Despite the statement, many say the group essentially provided security to white nationalist protesters.

In another photo, posted to Twitter by Glen Rock council member Arati Kreibich, a man can be seen holding a Proud Boys flag.

Proud Boys, a far-right group founded by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McGinnes, are a separate group affiliated with White Nationalism.

Like the Three Percenters, members of the Proud Boys were present at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a former Proud Boys member actually helped organize the Charlottesville rally.

Co-organizer of the pro-police march, and former Fair Lawn mayor, John Cosgrove told Northjersey.com that he was unaware of the connotations these logos had.

"I was unaware of the presence of a white supremacist group. If I had been aware of that I would have asked them to leave," he told the publication.

Fair Lawn Police Sergeant Brian Metzler told Patch the protest featured yelling between the two sides of the street, but no altercations or arrests.

BLM activists took to Twitter to point out what they felt was a discrepancy between how their side of the protest was policed as opposed to their pro-police counterparts.

Metzler estimated that roughly 350 people total were present in the area of the protest, with only 50 of those protesters on the side of BLM. However, the police force was seen on video recording and facing the side of BLM.

Additionally, photos posted to Instagram show a contentious moment between a Fair Lawn police officer and a BLM protester.

In response to the events of last week, the Fair Lawn Police Department announced that "questions and inquiries will be responded to" during the public portion of Tuesday's Borough Council meeting, scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Prior to the 8 p.m. council meeting, protesters will gather outside the Fair Lawn Municipal Building at 7:30 p.m. for a silent vigil in response to the events of last week.

"Last Monday's 'Back the Blue' rally fully unveiled the racism and hatred that has existed in our community for generations," read a flyer for the protest.

"Stand up against racism and hate and join your neighbors in solidarity with racial and social justice as we mourn for our town and its willingness to be complicit in racism."