PEMBERTON, NJ — Things got heated on Wednesday night at the Pemberton Township council meeting as Mayor Matthew Bianchini shouted expletives and charged at a resident.
Footage captured by the Pine Barrens Tribune showed Bianchini shout, "I'm getting you," along with a few other choice words in the direction of Michael Sawka as he had to be physically restrained.
"Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it justified? Would I do it again? Absolutely," Bianchini told NBC, detailing that Sawka made a hand gesture toward his daughter who was in attendance, and then gave him the middle finger.
The altercation, according to Bianchini, comes after months of online and in-person harassment from Sawka that also included comments to his wife and daughter at the meeting on Wednesday night.
Sawka said he was just waving his hands because the two were speaking loudly, and that his other actions in the past were directed toward questioning government spending.
In the video, he continued to ask for police and highlight his belief that he was just threatened by Bianchini. Officers eventually arrive and enter a side room where the mayor had gone with others.
Sawka filed a court complaint on Thursday asking for assault and terroristic threat charges to be handed down against Bianchini.
He also called on him to resign ahead of his bid for re-election on Nov. 3.
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