Toms River Man Indicted In Attack On Concert Crowd At NJ Church

ASBURY PARK, NJ — A Toms River man accused of throwing smoke bombs into and trying to pepper spray attendees of an anti-racism concert at an Asbury Park church in January has been indicted, the New Jersey Attorney General's office announced.

Nicholas G. Mucci, 28, was originally charged in March in relation to the Jan. 27 attack at Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, Attorney General Matthew Platkin said. He has been held at Monmouth County Jail ever since, after the court determined he posed a danger to the community, and ordered him detained pending trial.

The concert was organized by a group known as the "One People's Project," which bills itself as an anti-racism, social justice organization, the attorney general's office said.

As the concert was ending, about 9 p.m. on Jan. 27, Mucci, who was wearing a black face covering, approached the church and blocked the attendees from leaving, authorities said. Witnesses said he yelled "White lives matter, too," and threw two smoke bombs toward the church and into the exiting crowd before driving off in a dark-colored SUV," the attorney general's office said.

Surveillance video of the event showed a vehicle resembling Mucci’s SUV approach the church and two items being thrown from the driver’s side of the vehicle. As smoke began filling the air and the crowd became visibly alarmed, the vehicle rapidly sped away, authorities said.

Witnesses reported seeing a dark-colored SUV circling the church shortly after that, and just after 10 p.m. it pulled into the parking lot where some concert-goers remained, authorities said.
They said Mucci, still clad in a black face covering, got out of the SUV and tried to pepper spray the group while again shouting, "White lives matter." He then got back into his vehicle and left, the attorney general's office said.

Mucci's SUV was identified by a license plate reader installed in the area as having been present when the attack happened, the attorney general's office said.

In addition, investigators were able to determine from physical evidence recovered at the scene that the smoke bombs were purchased from a fireworks store in Morrisville, Pennyslvania. The investigation revealed that Mucci purchased identical items from the store on Oct. 23, 2022, and provided out-of-state photo identification in order to make the purchase, the attorney general's office said.

"Cell phone records obtained during the investigation indicated that Mucci's cell phone had 'gone dark' " during the time of the Jan. 27 attack, authorities said.

Search warrants executed at Mucci's home revealed an AR-style assault rifle, several large capacity ammunition magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, authorities said.

"White Lives Matter" and other white nationalist propaganda were also recovered in both his home and vehicle, along with the bear spray used in the attack, authorities said.

Mucci also made several social media posts about the incident, including a video that depicts him driving while recapping the events of the attack, including how the bear spray he released at the concertgoers burned his eyes, according to the attorney general's office.

Mucci was indicted for aggravated arson, two counts of causing or risking widespread injury or damage; two counts of possession of a destructive device; unlawful possession of a weapon; two counts of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, two counts of aggravated assault; two counts of terroristic threats; possession of an assault firearm; possession of a large capacity ammunition magazine; and hindering.

This article contains additional reporting by Patch's Karen Wall.