After Bridgewater Commons mall fight, NAACP calls for police officers’ removal

BRIDGEWATER – The township has found itself in the center of the national controversy over police use of force after a video showing two officers breaking up a fight between two teens, one Black and one white, at Bridgewater Commons over the weekend went viral.

The video has prompted the NAACP to call for the officers to be "removed" from the Bridgewater Police Department pending an investigation by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

Gov. Phil Murphy commented Wednesday that the "racially disparate treatment is deeply, deeply disturbing."

The controversy also led the township to cancel Mayor Matt Moench's town hall meeting on road improvements that was scheduled for Wednesday evening because of safety concerns.

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Richard T. Smith, president of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference, called for the immediate removal of the officers pending an investigation.

"The time for the governor and attorney general to put a stop to this type of behavior by the police is now," Smith said in a news release.

In the video, a female and male officer grab the white teen off the Black teen. The white teen is put on a nearby couch while the male officer tackles the Black teen to the ground, straddles his back and crosses his hands to handcuff him while the female officer appears to have her knee on his back. The video shows no sign of resistance from the Black teen.

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As the Black teen is being handcuffed on the ground, the white teen is seen standing up looking at the officers before the female officer sits him back on the couch as the Black teen is lifted off the ground by the male officer. The video cuts off at this point.

Smith said the state conference was disappointed to see police actions "irrefutably showing the disparate treatment of African-Americans in our police institutions."

"When Bridgewater police found two youths fighting, the immediate reaction was to aggressively throw the Black child to the ground, knee placed around the neck area and cuffed behind the back. At the same time, the white youth, at least equally at fault for the fight as his Black counterpart, was carefully eased onto a couch and treated like a victim," said Smith, adding that this is something Blacks in New Jersey experience too often.

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Murphy also weighed in on the incident.

"Although an investigation is still gathering the facts about this incident, I’m deeply disturbed by what appears to be racially disparate treatment in this video. We’re committed to increasing trust between law enforcement and the people they serve," Murphy wrote on Twitter.

During his COVID-19 news conference on Wednesday, Murphy reiterated his concern for the apparent racially disparate treatment in the video.

He said increasing trust between police and the community has been a hallmark of his administration from day one.

"To deepen that trust and walk in the other guy's shoes, I think we've made an enormous amount of progress. We talked about the pride we had post the murder of George Floyd, we had thousands of demonstrations and very, very few incidents. Even through there was rightful anger and passion, folks had gotten a sense of a rhythm with each other," Murphy said.

“We have to let the investigation play out. The appearance of what is racially disparate treatment is deeply, deeply disturbing and it's just another reminder that the progress we've made on the relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve ... that our work is not done, and we need to continue that."

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The township postponed the town hall meeting as nationwide attention focused on Bridgewater.

"In light of the volume and nature of communications that have been received by our township staff and Police Department, the decision has been made, in the interest of protecting the safety of the public and staff, to postpone the town hall meeting," according to a statement on the township's website.

"Based on the nature of these communications and the number of prospective attendees, the township believes that it cannot reasonably guarantee the safety of the attendees and staff if the scheduled town hall were to proceed," the statement continues, adding a new meeting date will be announced.

Smith isn't the only person calling for the officers' removal.

In a CBS New York report, the 14-year-old Black teen, identified as Kye, and his mother, Ebone, who asked that their last names not be used, called for the officers to be fired. The teen and his mother could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Bridgewater police have called for an internal affairs investigation with assistance from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

In a letter to residents, Mayor Moench said it's not appropriate to comment on the details of the incident while an investigation is ongoing.

"Except to say that I am completely confident that the prosecutor's review will be impartial, objective and thorough," Moench said.

"The rules governing the use of force by police officers in New Jersey are codified by the Office of the Attorney General," Moench's letter said. "In order to absolutely ensure that these policies and regulations were upheld in this instance, Chief (Paul) Payne has requested that the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office conduct an independent review of the incident, with the unqualified support of the BPD."

Moench also thanked the public for refraining from jumping to conclusions while the investigation is ongoing, and thanked members of the Bridgewater Police Department for their service, and for keeping the public safe.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater NJ mall fight: NAACP wants police officer removal