'Threat' Of 2nd Jersey Shore Pop-Up Party Looms Despite Arrests: Cops

LONG BRANCH, NJ — As the city of Long Branch is still reeling from a wild pop-up party Saturday night that attracted 5,000 young people to Pier Village — and resulted in 15 arrests and damage to a police car — rumors of another party are already spreading through social media.

This second mass gathering will be June 19, according to this invite now making the rounds on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. "Beach Linkup Part 2," reads the invite. "Long Branch beach. Sunday, June 19. Time 12 p.m. - UNTIL. BYOLQ (bring your own liquor) and BYOW (bring your own weed). Music, eats, fun, dance battles, $1,000 twerk contest."

The Long Branch Police Department is taking the threat of this June 19 party seriously, said Long Branch Public Safety Director Domingos Saldida on Monday afternoon. (There is chatter on social media the party may be moved to June 18.)

"We are already aware of it, the same way we were aware of Saturday's event well before it happened," he said. "We — and at the county level — have police officers and detectives who monitor social media. We are already talking to our law enforcement partners across the state and in surrounding towns to assemble the same sort of response that we used Saturday night."

That means the public can again expect to see hundreds of police officers brought in from out of town and heavily armed SWAT officers forming barricades on Long Branch streets. The public should also likely expect another 9 p.m. curfew to be implemented, said the police director.

It is unknown who is organizing these pop-up parties.

A total of 15 people were arrested Saturday, most of them charged with offenses related to fighting and disorderly conduct. One police car was damaged in the melee. Many of the partygoers arrived by NJ Transit. Some partygoers threw rocks and bottles at police when asked to disperse, said Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey.

Saldida said a throng of people gathered around a police car and then some started dancing on top of it and smashing its windows in. He said the entire incident was recorded and then put on TikTok.

"A few hours later, we arrested that person seen in the video," he said. He said he believes it is an adult Long Branch resident, but declined to release his name.

Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday his office is also aware of the potential June 19 party and is "tracking it."

He also seemed to imply state government could host a location for these pop-up parties.

"There are places where 5,000 people can go in New jersey, that's the good news. We can set that up. We can do it smartly," said the governor.

"When you look at the scale of the people who were there, I think the response met the moment and the results are in the relatively modest measures of civil unrest," continued Murphy."We've gotta figure out a way to allow people to gather peacefully in a way ... without collateral damage ... There was a modest amount of small-scale violence, but thankfully at the end of the day, we got through it. Now, who didn't get through it? The small businesses in Pier Village. They all had to close. That's something that's not acceptable."

"We get the fact that we're coming out of a pandemic and people want to get back out," the governor also said. "We've gotta figure out a way for people to gather peacefully, but to do it in a place, a way that affords for that to happen."

Several Pier Village businesses closed early Saturday night

Long Branch residents described thousands of people thronging the beach and boardwalk. Pier Village is a collection of high-end shops and restaurants, luxury apartments and a hotel and spa right on the Atlantic Ocean in Long Branch.

Several Pier Village restaurants decided to close early Saturday night, to avoid incurring any potential damage should a riot break out, said this area's state lawmaker, Sen. Vin Gopal.

"Look, it's upsetting. I know of several business at Pier Village that had to close early and I know some of the bars and restaurants would have wanted to stay open past 9 p.m.," said Gopal, a Democrat who represents Long Branch in Trenton. "And Jersey Shore restaurants already have such a short season already. So it's upsetting that they have to close early on a Saturday night and not make that money."

This has happened before: Last June, on Juneteenth, there was another pop-up party in Long Branch, where again 5,000 teens and young adults descended on the city. In that incident, the windows of a 7/11 were smashed and there were multiple arrests, said Saldida.

"This idea of 'pop-up' social media parties is not new," said the police director. "This has been going on for several years now, across the country. And it's not new to Long Branch. We had one last summer, now this past weekend and another one June 19. What we need to do is prepare a unified, coordinated response across the state for how law enforcement handles these kind of pop-up social media events."

Saldida said he is already working with the Monmouth County Prosecutor's office, New Jersey State Police and the Monmouth County Sheriff to prepare a response for June 19.

He said the city of Long Branch reached out to the New Jersey Attorney General and Murphy to develop a statewide strategy for how law enforcement can best address pop-up parties, where a crowd of thousands convenes, many of them drinking and using drugs.

"We have not heard back yet from the governor or Attorney General," said Saldida. "These pop-up parties are going to keep happening."

Long Branch residents describe what they witnessed

Long Branch residents said they were dismayed at the crowd size, and others said they were nervous to even leave their homes or apartments Saturday night.

"I was trying to take my dad out for a dinner reservation at Pier Village, and I saw several restaurants closing up for the night and turning people away," said Vince C., a 37-year-old Long Branch homeowner who said he lives about a mile inland from Pier Village. "When I was there at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, there must have been 1,000 people in the very center of Pier Village. They were all mostly older teens and people in their 20s; I smelled marijuana very strongly everywhere and you know it's not water in those water bottles they were holding. There were people dancing and playing loud music in the center of it all."

He said young people drove in cars from out of town and many Long Branch residents could hear cars revving their engines until about 10:30 p.m.

The trash left behind was another matter.

"There was already a lot of trash piling up on the beach Saturday night," he said. "I came back Sunday morning just to see what happened and the amount of trash left on the beach and in Pier Village was just disgusting."

"Pier Village had warned the residents to possibly expect a 'pop-up' party," said Pier Village resident Kaye Simmons. "That was appreciated. My balcony is right above Turning Point (restaurant). I've heard rumors of another June 18 event being planned. I hope not, as it is disruptive for the merchants and families trying to enjoy a nice day. I'm sure little kids were scared and I certainly didn't want to leave my apartment."

Last summer, this bill was floated that would have broadened the definition of a riot and allowed police to make more arrests in large crowds. The bill was proposed by State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean) and Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville), but it failed to get more backers and never advanced out of committee.

Gopal said he would be leery of such a bill and would likely not back it.

"You are really getting into First Amendment rights," he said. "You can't stop people from gathering in a public place."

Police Director Saldida agreed: "We are not going to just stop and frisk everyone coming off the train at Long Branch. That is illegal. This is a public boardwalk."

Like Saldida, Sen. Ocean called for Gov. Murphy to assemble a task force including State Police, NJ Transit, the Monmouth and Ocean County prosecutors and sheriffs, as well as the police chiefs' associations of Monmouth and Ocean counties to determine a strategy to deal with pop-up party crowds.

"This weekend's incident followed the same script we saw last summer, when hordes of out-of-control teenagers swarmed to the Shore," said Singer on Monday morning. "This is not a case of getting some people together and going to the shore. It's an orchestrated criminal act."

Saldida said prior to Saturday's event, Long Branch PD had called the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MOCERT) and the Monmouth and Middlesex Rapid Deployment Forces, both SWAT-type units.

He said they were standing by on back-up, and Long Branch called them in when the crowd size got too big Saturday night. He said he is prepared to do the same thing for June 19.

"State Police have been great to work with. But we have to talk to NJ Transit to do something about them bringing these trains in packed with people," he said.

Long Branch Mayor John Pallone, a Democrat, stressed on Facebook that the majority of the partygoers Saturday night were peaceful, and followed police commands to disperse.

"There were definitely way more people than normal but it was mostly peaceful," said Long Branch resident Robin Hirsch. "It was mostly people walking around and sitting on the beach. In Pier Village, masses of people were loud with music. That’s were the arguments and fighting began."

"The people did make a huge mess and had no regard for anyone else’s property," she added. "They were peeing in front of our homes."

All the Patch reporting on the May 21 Pier Village pop-up party: Flash Grenade, Smoke Deployed At NJ Shore Beach Party

'Out-Of-Control' Teen Hordes Swarm Jersey Shore, 15 Arrested

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