Possible Bias Incident At Asbury Park Church, Attorney General Says

ASBURY PARK, NJ — An Episcopal church in Asbury Park was holding an anti-racism event this past Friday night and a possible bias incident occurred while the event was underway, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.

As of Monday morning, the county prosecutor refused to release exactly what happened, saying it was still "under investigation."

But both the Monmouth prosecutor and the New Jersey Attorney General said they are investigating this as "a possible bias incident."

This took place sometime between 9 and 10:30 p.m. Friday night during an anti-racism event at Trinity Episcopal Church, located on Asbury Avenue.

At this time, there are no known injuries. Asbury Park Police continue to investigate.

Also, NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin referenced an investigation into an attack Sunday morning at Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, where a person in a ski mask threw a Molotov cocktail at the synagogue. No damage was caused by the homemade explosive device, which the attorney general called an act of attempted arson.

More on the North Jersey synagogue attack: Molotov Cocktail Thrown At Bloomfield Synagogue, Officials Say (Jan. 29)

"The Office of the Attorney General is aware of the attempted arson at a synagogue in Essex County that occurred in the early morning hours today," said Platkin Sunday. "My office is working closely with local, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies, to identify and apprehend the suspect in this attack. Our investigation remains ongoing. We are also aware of the attack on members of a church in Monmouth County that occurred on Saturday — another incident being pursued as potentially bias-motivated. Collaboration across multiple agencies is occurring in that ongoing investigation as well."

The New Jersey Attorney General also linked the North Jersey synagogue attack to violence currently breaking out in Israel, where an attack in the West Bank killed 10 people and a Palestinian shooting in east Jerusalem killed seven Israelis last week.

"We are cognizant of the fact that these attacks have occurred while violence continues to erupt in Israel, and while our own nation reckons with violence at home," said the New Jersey Attorney General. "I want to reassure all New Jerseyans — especially our friends and neighbors of the Black community and the Jewish faith — that law enforcement continues to take the appropriate steps to increase our presence around sensitive places so that everyone in our state can worship, love and live without fear of violence or threat."