Sei sulla pagina 1di 19
COPY TOWNSHIP OF TOMS RIVER A Municipal Corporation of the State of New Jersey 33 Washington Street RECEIVED Toms River, New Jersey 08753 bare ie eppgeeo (732) 341-1000, Ext. 8213 (Phone) ERSEYCEDARTMT OF (732) 736-6854 (Fax) LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY DIVISION ON Civit. RIGHTS STATE OF NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY DIVISION OF CIVIL RIGHTS. MARIA MARUCA, KEVIN GEOGHEGAN, and TERRANCE TURNBACH, in their official capacities as members of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River, a New Jersey municipal corporation, Complainants, v. VERIFIED COMPLAINT DANIEL RODRICK, in his official capacity as a member of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River, a New Jersey municipal corporation; and SHORE NEWS MEDIA AND MARKETING, LLC (dlbla shorenewsnetwork.com and www.facebook.com/OCPoliceBlotter), Respondents. Pet ners, Maria Maruca, Kevin Geoghegan, and Terrance Tumbach (collectively Complainants”), by way of verified complaint against Daniel Rodrick and Shore News Media and Marketing LLC (d/b/a shorenewsnetwork.com and www. facebook.com/OCPoliceBlotter), allege as follows: NATURE OF THE ACTION I. Complainants, a bi-partisan committee of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River (“Toms River” or “Township”), institute this action to urge the Division of Civil Rights and the Office of the Attorney General to investigate and take appropriate legal action against Respondents, a fellow member of the Township Council and the operator of two Internet platforms, who are accomplices in an increasingly ugly and incendiary digital effort to exploit latent religious and racial for personal and political gain. 2, These efforts, usually disguised as or interspersed with seemingly legitimate reporting or commentary on public issues, exceed the boundaries of legitimate civil discourse under the First Amendment and offend the fundamental principles of equality enshrined in the Federal and State Constitutions and various anti-discrimination laws. Even worse, the insidious messages Petitioners spread on a daily basis through the Internet and in print not only promote bigotry, but also fuel the divisiveness that recently has engulfed other parts of the country in violence and destruction. 3 Several months ago, the Attorney General took strong action to condemn, and ultimately shut down, another Ocean County-based website, Rise Up Ocean County, because of its abject anti-Semitism. This case is far more grievous because it involves an elected official — bound by an oath to uphold the constitution and to represent all constituents equally — actively coordinating with social media allies to disseminate racist and anti-Semitic misinformation to advance his own crass political agenda. It therefore demands an equally swift and strenuous response by the Attorney General. PARTIES 4. Complainant Maria Maruca is an elected member of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River, a municipal corporation of the State of New Jersey, with offices located at 33 Washington Street, Toms River, New Jersey, 08753. Ms. Maruca currently serves as Council President. 5. Complainant Kevin Geoghegan is also an elected member of the Toms River Township Council, who currently serves as Council Vice-President. 6. Complainant Terrance Turbach is also an elected member of the Toms River Township Council 7. All three Petitioners comprise the Council’s Administration Committee. 8. Respondent Daniel Rodrick is an elected member of the Toms River Township Council. 9. Upon information and belief, Respondent Shore News Media and Marketing LLC (“SNMM”) isa limited liability company established and operating pursuant to the laws of the State of New Jersey. 10. Upon information and belief, Phil Stilton is an individual who is either the sole or a principal member and an administrator of SNMM. SNMM owns and operates an Internet website with the URL wwiw.shorenewsnetwork.com and an associated Facebook page with the URL www.facebook.com/OCPoliceBlotter. Upon information and belief, Mr. Stilton also runs the “Say No to Lakewood Mo” Facebook page. 13. Mr. Rodrick frequently funnels information to, and often contributes to or authors posts that appear on, these platforms. 14. Both websites essentially serve as the de facto media arm of Mr, Rodrick’s political operations, through which his divisive, hateful, and bigoted messages are disseminated, COUNTS ANTI-SEMITISM 15, Since 2015, the Toms River has experienced a surge in growth of residents belonging to the Orthodox Jewish faith 2017 Campaign 6. Mr. Rodrick was first elected to the Township Council at the November 2017 general election. Since that campaign, he has exploited the latent anti- Semitism surrounding that seismic demographic change to advance his political agenda, both as a candidate for office, and as an elected official. His campaign literature tells much of the story. In the 2017 campaign to represent Ward 2 on the Township Council, Mr, Rodrick disseminated numerous mailers attacking “Lakewood-style development” and accusing his opponent of taking campaign contributions from “Lakewood developers.”! Lakewood borders ‘Toms River to the north in is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of Orthodox Jews. See Appendix A. 18, Speaking in anti-Semitic undertones, Mr. Rodrick’s campaign message subliminally equated the growth in multi-family housing along Route 9, just south of the Lakewood border (in the section of Toms River referred to as “North Dover”), to an infiltration of Orthodox Jews from Lakewood, In fact, the two phenomena, although occurring almost simultaneously, were entirely unrelated. The multi- family housing developments were approved and undergoing construction well ‘In the interests of full disclosure, petitioner Kevin Geoghegan was Mr. Rodrick’s opponent in the 2017 election. Mr. Rodrick defeated Mr, Geoghegan to represent Ward 2. Mr. Geoghegan won an at-large seat on the Township Council two years later in the 2019 general election. before increasing numbers of Orthodox Jews began moving into Toms River (around 2015), and were built to satisfy the Township's Mount Laurel obligation. But using “Lakewood” as code for “Jew,” Mr. Rodrick deliberately twisted these facts to foment anti-Semitism and cast himself as the candidate that would “keep the Jews out.” 9. In subsequent campaigns and as an elected official, Mr. Rodrick’s anti- Jewish bias degenerated from the subtle to the overt. 2019 Campaign 20. In 2019, Mr. Rodrick ran a lurid mayoral primary campaign against longtime Councilman Maurice B. Hill, Jr. (who would prevail in the primary and later in the general election to become Mayor) and former Ocean County Prosecutor Joe Coronoto, Sr, His campaign dripped with anti-Semitism. 21. In wo glossy campaign mailers, Mr. Rodrick — repackaging the same code language from his prior campaign — tagged Mr. Coronoto as “Lakewood Joe and accused him of granting amnesty to “Lakewood welfare frauds.” These mailers depicted images of Orthodox Jews under arrest, seated in court, and appearing in a criminal photo lineup. See Appendix B. Here again, Mr. Rodrick distorted the facts to stoke the flames of anti-Semitism. He took Ocean County Prosecutor's highly- publicized fraud case against certai Lakewood residents and shifted the spotlight away from the offense and onto the religious affiliation of the offenders. His obvious purpose was to divide the electorate along religious lines and rally an extremist bloc behind his candidacy. 22. Mr. Rodrick waged an even more invidious campaign against Mr. Hill, stooping even lower to target a specific member of the Orthodox faith, In another glossy campaign flyer, he explicitly attacked Scott Gartner, a Toms River resident and local rabbi (and also Mr. Hill’s neighbor) for exercising his constitutional right to petition the governing body to enact zoning changes that would allow greater ‘opportunities to construct houses of worship to serve the growing Orthodox community, ‘The ad features Mr. Gartner prominently shaking hands with Mr. HI (with Mr. Rodrick hovering in the background), using him as a campaign prop tum this country’s oldest freedom — the right to worship freely — into a wedge issue. 23. On June 4, 2019, a similar Rodrick-style, anti-Orthodox campaign ad, disguised as a legitimate news article, was posted on SNN. The piece was headlined Mo Hill Receives Support from Orthodox Synagogue Developer” and specifically references Mr. Gartner in the body. Beneath the headline was a picture of Mr. H with a ceremonial yamucha on his head. 24, Disguising incendiary political attacks as legitimate news is Mr. Rodrick’s calling card. Shortly before the June 2019 primary his campaign disseminated a fake newspaper entitled the “Toms River Tribune” in which he reprised the attacks against Mr. Hill, Mr. Coronato, and Mr. Gartner described in the preceding paragraphs. 25. The apparent purpose of this trickery was to paint the Orthodox community as a threat and again position Mr. Rodrick as the “anti-Jewish” candidate for Toms River mayor. 26. Finding Mr. Rodrick’s campaign tactics reprehensible, the Township ‘Council voted just days after the primary election to formally censure and condemn him, This was the st time (but not the last) in Toms River's history that the governing body was forced to censure one of its own members. See Appendix D. Governance Rodrick has translated is hate-fueled campaigns into hate-filled governance. Aided and abetted by SNN and his other social media accomplices, Mr. Rodrick consistently turns every policy matter into “us versus them” frenzy - with “them” usually the Orthodox community or some other historically oppressed or disenfranchised minority. 28. For example, since December 2018 (Mr. Rodrick’s first year on the Council) the Township has been under an ongoing investigation by the United States. Department of Justice under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) concerning the Township’s land use regulations pertai ng to houses of worship. But while the current and prior Mayor and Council have been committed to working with the DOJ and religious groups to find an inclusive and constructive resolution to this matter, Mr. Rodrick has resorted to social media to spread lies and misinformation designed to foment anti-Semitic opposition to these efforts, 29. For example, posted on the Stilton-run, Rodrick-affiliated “Say No to Lakewood Mo” Facebook page is a doctored video of then-candidate Hill saying “I sold out to the Orthodox Community because | took campaign contributions from my Jewish neighbors. See https:// www. facebook.com/SayNoToLakewoodMo/videos/vb.4386897267 1026 1/4 041 18130267722/?type=2&theater (last visited September 30, 2020). Mayor Hill’s comments were deliberately edited by the page’s administrator to perpetuate the insinuation that the Mayor was “bribed” and “bought” by Orthodox Jewish community in an effort to bolster Mr. Rodrick’s political agenda by fueling anti- Semitic opposition to the Township's efforts to resolve the religious zoning disputes with the DOJ. 30. Similarly, on September 22, 2020, the Township Council voted 6-1 with Mr. Rodrick the lone dissenter — to enter pre-suit negotiations with the DOJ to avoid potential federal RLUIPA litigation. Several days later, SNN posted the following: sq 28 at 12.28 PML We are now in posse: he Department of Justice to "Review our land use lass" in an attenpt to get the DO! to take act The DOJ did review those laws once onder to comply. habad. That case was 10 be reopened to allow for ‘of worship to 2 acres The post is rife with inaccuracies, distortions, and absurdities: no specific zoning ordinance was debated, discussed, or proposed at the September 22 meeting and the Township did not invite a lawsuit from the DOJ. The DOJ issued a notice of suit on September 17, based on the results of its second investigation which begin in December 2018. But this is Mr. Rodrick’s calling card: fabricating tabloid scandals and feeding them to social media allies to exploit religious bias. Zoning issues pertairing to houses of worship are a favorite subject of his concoctions. utine 31. Staying truc to form, Mr. Rodrick, through social media, used a public land auction to fuel more antipathy toward the Orthodox community. In mid- summer, the Township Council rejected an offer by the alleged highest bidder for a parcel of Township-owned land over concerns about the amount of the bid and the conduct of the public auction. Proceeding on his own fishing expedition, Mr. Rodrick allegedly traced the highest bid to an LLC affiliated with a member of the Lakewood Planning Board. From there, either he or his surrogates saturated SNN and other related social media sites with distorted and inflammatory articles — headed by pictures of the Lakewood Planning Board, whose members are largely of 10 the Orthodox faith — designed to fabricate a “Jewish conspiracy.” See Appendix E 32. When this matter arose, the following appeared on the “Say No to Lakewood Mo” Facebook page: Doe eee ay Pies tet Cpls pete ceeeeae Rane enapana eee eee This post crystallizes Mr. Rodrick’s escalating pattern, from candidate to elected official, of seeding social media with anti-Semitic propaganda to serve his own political ambitions. 33. Unchecked, such irresponsible activity inevitably incites bias attacks against Jews, as occurred recently in Jersey City. Last year in Toms River, Mr. Gartner, the subject of these photos, had a container of hot coffee hurled at him and his family while they were walking home from services. a 34. The propagation of hate on social media is a worsening epidemic that perpetuates chaos, division, and violence. It is even more heinous when an elected official — bound by oath to uphold the constitution and represent all citizens equally feeds the contagion and feasts off the destructive results as Mr. Rodrick does. Il. RACISM 35. Atthe June 23, 2020, meeting of the Township Council, Councilwoman Laurie Huryk delivered remarks celebrating recent national and local developments in civil rights (including the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court protecting LBGTQ Americans from employment discrimination and the commemoration of Juneteenth), while also urging against the complacency exposed by the death of George Floyd and the ensuring social unrest. She praised outreach efforts by the Toms River Police Department to foster unity and social cohesion. Finally, citing census data showing that Toms River is demographically less diverse than both the state and the nation, she advocated ways to make Toms River more attractive and afforcable to more diverse population. Councilwoman Huryk’s remarks can be viewed ine at ips: tomsriver.viebit.conv/player.php?hash=iky XJwACSE6L). 36. Days late SNN and other social media sites affiliated with and supportive of Mr. Rodrick ran numerous articles mischaracterizing Ms. Huryk’s 2 comments, accusing her of saying that Toms River was “too white.” See hup://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2020/06/24/democrat-laurie-huryk-says-toms- river-is-too-white-we-need-to-do-better/ (last visited October 2020); https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2020/06/28/is-toms-river-too-white-and- what-can-we-do-about-it/ (last visited October 7, 2020); http://www. shorenewsnetwork.com/2020/06/24/democrat-laurie-huryk-says-toms- river-is-too-white-we-need-to-do-better/ (last visited October 7, 2020). 37. As it was designed to do, the racist spin on Ms. Huryk’s plea for ity and inclusivity sparked a racist backlash against her. Through e-mail, conventional mail, and social media, Ms. Huryk received hateful, profane, and threatening messages which referred to her as a “dumb, stupid bitch,” and a “n***er lover,” and African-Americans as “rapists,” “savages,” and “criminals. Appendix F. 38. During her comments at the July 14, 2020, council meeting, Ms. Huryk defended her remarks, which she stressed were grossly mischaracterized, reveal iB the “disgustingly racist” attacks she received in response to the false social media articles, which she stated made her family feel unsafe. 39. Continuing to fan the flames of racism that its initial articles inspired, SNN and its affiliated social media outlets ran articles insinuating that Ms. Huryk fabricated the threats she received. See e.g., 13 huups:/ www.shorenewsnetwork.com/2020/07/30/toms-river-councilman-who- criticized-towns-racial-makeup-thank ful-for-letters-of-encouragement-and- support (last visited October 7, 2020). NEXUS TO SNN AND AFFLIATED SITES 40. A recent incident confirmed Mr. Rodrick is the pipeline to Mr. Stilton, SNN, and affiliated social media sites that intentionally promulgate fictions and falsehoods to divide Toms River along racial and religious lines. 41, At the August 25, 2020, meeting of the Township Council, which can be viewed at hitps://tomsriver. viebit.com/player.php?hash=OhwWz0F 16:24, Mr. Rodrick was observed and is captured on video photographing a member of the audience from the dais. That individual later filed a complaint with the Counc President who ordered an investigation which confirmed by indisputable evidence that Mr. Rodrick photographed the complainant from the dais and either directly, or through a surrogate, had those photos posted on the SNN, “Say No to Lakewood Mo,” and ‘Jackson Township Conservative Republicans, Internet and social media pages. 42. When confronted with the complaint and the results of the investigation, Mr. Rodrick freely admitted to his colleagues that he took the photo and transmitted it to what he described was a “member of the media,” whom Mr. Rodrick later confirmed to a reporter was Mr. Stilton, the purported owner and 4 operator of the “Say No to Lakewood Mo,” and “Jackson Township Conservative Republicans,” Internet and social med pages. See Appendix G. 43. This incident confirmed what had always been suspected: that Mr. Ro k feeds the Internet hate machine to advance his personal and political agendas. 44. In response to this incident, the Township Council censured Mr. Rodrick a third time. See Appendix G. Til. ACTION REQUESTED 45. This action was not filed to silence or censor any particular elected official, individual, or any particular social media outlet from discussing, debating, or taking public positions (honestly or not) on important public policy issues facing the Township. This is also not intended to drag the Division on Civil Rights or any agency of the State Government into a local partisan or political fray. 46. But where, as here, the free exchange of ideas, opinions, and disagreements, is hijacked — with the support and encouragement, ifnot the direction ‘of, by an elected official — to deliberately foment hostility toward historically persecuted racial and religious groups for political gain, decisive action by the Attorney General is warranted. That racism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of hate infect certain corners of social media is intolerable, That an elected official, like Mr. 15 Rodrick, would misuse his office to supply the pathogen and seek to profit from its I-effects is abhorrent. 47. The corduct of Mr. Rodrick and his affiliates in social media contradict and undermine the important initiatives, sponsored by both the Attorney General and the Toms River Police Department, to foster inclu: y, promote diversity, and combat bigotry, and, if ignored, portend more chaos, division, and destruction. 48. The petitioners therefore urge the Attorney General to use its legal authority and superi r resources to take whatever action against the respondents determines to be just and lawful. MARIA MARUCA KEVIN HEGAN. fi» TERRANCE sittin Dated: October 13, 2020 18 VERIFICATION MARIA MARUCA, of full age, certifies as follows: 1, currently serve as an elected member of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River. 2. [have filed this petition in my capacity as an elected official. 3. have read this petition and certify that the allegations set forth herein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. 4, I further certify that the statements made above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and understand that, if any of the statements | have made are willfully false, we are subject to punishment. MARIAMARUCA Dated: October 13, 2020 7 VERIFICATION KEVIN GEOGHEGAN, of full age, certifies as follows: 1. Lcurrently serve as an elected member of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River. Ihave filed this petition in my capa y as an elected official. 3. Lhave read this petition and certify that the allegations set forth herein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. 4. | further certify that the statements made above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and understand that, if any of the statements I have made are willfully false, we are subject to punishment Dated: October 13, 2020 18 VERIFICATION TERRANCE TURNBACH, of fi age, certifies as follows: 1. T currently serve as an elected member of the Township Council of the Township of Toms River. 2. Thave filed this petition in my capacity as an elected official. 3. Thave read this petition and certify that the allegations set forth herein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. 4. I further certify that the statements made above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and understand that, if any of the statements I have made are willfully false, we are subject to punishment TERRANCE FURNBACH Dated: October 13, 2020 as

Potrebbero piacerti anche