Men Who Vandalized Cop Cars In Protest Aren't From Newark: ECPO

NEWARK, NJ — A pair of out-of-town residents have been accused of vandalizing police vehicles during an otherwise peaceful protest in Newark last month, authorities said.

On March 30, a massive rally in the wake of George Floyd’s death took place in Newark. Despite drawing an estimated 12,000 participants, the Brick City's overwhelmingly peaceful gathering stood in stark contrast to others across the nation, which saw rioting, fires and arrests.

• See related article: Thousands Flood Downtown Newark For Peaceful Protests
• See related article: 5 Inspiring Glimpses Into Newark's Peaceful George Floyd Protest

However, the day wasn’t incident-free, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Newark Public Safety Department said.

According to prosecutors, marked police cars at the First Precinct on 17th Avenue were “vandalized” during the protest. A request to clarify the type of vandalism wasn’t immediately returned.

On Tuesday, prosecutors announced that a 27-year-old man from New Brunswick has been charged with four counts of criminal mischief and a disorderly persons offense, and a 29-year-old man from New York has been charged with criminal mischief and a disorderly persons offense.

They were given a summons and are expected to appear in Newark Municipal Court, prosecutors said.

Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens said peaceful protesters have a constitutionally protected right to demonstrate, and the prosecutor’s office “unequivocally supports that.”

But authorities can’t condone “unlawful conduct,” Stephens added.

“That is why the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, working with our partners in the Newark Police [Department], investigated these incidents and brought charges,” Stephens said.

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said police are grateful that – “by and large” – the protests in the city following Floyd’s death were peaceful and without any major incidents of violence.

• See related article: Watch Cops From Across Essex County Take A Knee For George Floyd

Several reports have emerged about Newark residents actively stepping in to prevent property damage and keep the protest violence-free.

A'Dorian Murray-Thomas, the founder of local nonprofit SHE Wins Inc. and a member of the Newark Public Schools board of education, commented that the city was committed to having a peaceful protest.

"When others from outside of our community sought to do otherwise, they were immediately shut down," Murray-Thomas stated, sharing a video of a group of protesters surrounding a man with a baseball bat who was standing near a store window.

At the First Precinct, the site of the alleged vandalism, a group of about 15 “mostly white” young people threw bottles at police and tried to goad other people nearby into violence, until local residents quickly shut them down, TAP Into Newark reported.

Several residents who helped quell the instigators said the group wore red cloths over their faces and weren’t from Newark, TAP Into reported.

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