Manchester Police Condemn Antisemitic Comments On Coffee With A Cop Facebook Post

MANCHESTER, NJ — The Manchester Township Police Department publicly criticized comments made on Facebook update it shared, calling them "hateful and antisemitic."

On Jan. 26, the department posted photos of its Coffee with a Cop event that was held at Toast Cafe & Restaurant, a newer business in town. The police department has been holding the Coffee with a Cop days — an opportunity for residents to talk with officers about concerns they have about the community — on a regular basis over the last few years.

However, comments that focused on the Jewish ownership of the restaurant, which is located at 1900 Route 70, were so pervasive that the department posted a response, first within the comments on the original post, and then as a share of the original post.

"The Manchester Township Police Department wholeheartedly disagrees and condemns any of the hateful and antisemitic comments made under this post," the department said. "The First Amendment protects hate speech from government censorship, so it is on you, the commenter, to publicly post these antisemitic comments for everyone to see."

"We thank Toast, as well as every other establishment that has hosted our Coffee with a Cop over the past year, for giving us an opportunity to meet and speak with members of our community in an informal setting," the department said. "We hope to see everyone at our next Coffee with a Cop mid-February in the west end of the township."

Government agencies and public officials are not allowed to remove objectionable comments from their social media pages, under the First Amendment. Lawsuits have forced public officials and agencies to restore comments that have been deleted.

On Friday afternoon, it appeared that some of the comments Manchester police referenced had been deleted.

The owner of Toast told The Lakewood Scoop he tried to reach out to some of the commenters.