Councilman's 911 Call On Black Child In Caldwell Is Criticized By Gov. Murphy

CALDWELL, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in Wednesday on the growing controversy over a Caldwell ex-councilman's call to police about his 9-year-old Black neighbor spraying lanternflies.

"No mother should have to worry about the cops being called on their child for trying to make the world a better place," said Murphy in a Tweet on Wednesday.

Last month, Gordon Lawshe, a former Caldwell councilman and recent co-chair of the town's Republican Party, called police on a sunny Saturday morning to say that he saw a "little Black woman" spraying trees and streets, and "I don't know what the hell she's doing. Scares me though."

A week later, her mom appeared at the Caldwell Borough Council meeting saying the town needs to have a "dialogue" about racism.

The incident, first reported in the local Progress, was later reported in the Daily Beast, People, and the British Daily Mail.

Lawshe's attorney told Patch last week that his client, 71, was in his back yard, didn't have his glasses on, and saw something suspicious in the distance.

However, mom Monique Joseph told the council on Nov. 1 that Lawshe knows the family, and, "It is sickening and scary to hear my neighbor use triggering words that have resulted in the death of too many Black and Brown children and adults at the hands of the police ... His ability to do something like this was not a mistake."

On Wednesday, a week after the matter was reported, Murphy retweeted a post about the matter from a media aggregation outlet.

Murphy added: "Bobbi, your mother was right. You were doing something amazing for our environment. Thank you for being a great community scientist."

Reactions on Twitter ranged from people agreeing with Murphy, to some saying that Lawshe followed the standard law enforcement advice, "When you see something, say something."

In the 911 call, Lawshe said, "Yeah, how ya doin' ... there's a little black woman walking and spraying stuff on the sidewalks and streets. I don't know what the hell she's doing. Scares me though. I don't know what she's spraying on the sidewalks and trees."

Monique Joseph told the council on Nov. 1, "I do commend the responding officer in this incident. My neighbor's word put my daughter in harm's way. My daughter was afraid to go out of her front door the next day. She was afraid that her neighbor, that she knows has a reason, unknown to her, has a reason to call the police on her."

'Positive Input' And Resolution

But in the days before Murphy's Tweet, Caldwell Mayor John Kelley, a Democrat, told Patch he was already working on a positive resolution to the controversy.

He added on Thursday that he had heard from more people about the matter. He said there will be followup at the next Borough Council meeting on Dec. 6.

"There were some additional interest by individuals with positive input," noted Kelley, a Democrat.

Lawshe's attorney, Greg Mascera, said Thursday, "Mrs. Joseph has lived directly across the street from Mr. Lawshe since 2015. They have been friendly neighbors. When Mr. Lawshe saw Mrs. Joseph and her daughter outside of their homes on the morning after the incident, Mr. Lawshe immediately apologized to Mrs. Joseph. Mr. Lawshe told Mrs. Joseph that had he known that it was her daughter that he had seen, he certainly would not have called the police.

"Mrs. Joseph did not accept Mr. Lawshe’s apology. Mr. Lawshe again apologized to Mrs. Joseph."

Mascera said that Joseph is on the Democratic Committee town, and reached out to a Democratic councilman to get involved during his re-election campaign, so the matter seemed political.

At the council meeting, Joseph said, "I want this to be a teachable moment for our town on racial bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion ... and ensure that going forward we can insure little Black and Brown children feel safe in this community. This is a very personal matter for my daughter. This is not political. I'm not here for a party."

See prior coverage: 911 Call Prompts Plea For Race Dialogue In Caldwell