Sophie Nieto-Munoz, New Jersey Monitor

A municipal court judge in Somerset County who oversaw truancy cases threatened children who came before him and their mothers with deportation, according to a formal complaint issued by a judicial advisory board.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com.

The largest federal immigration detention center on the east coast will open in Newark, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced Wednesday.

Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility located next to the Essex County jail, will be the first immigration detention center to open under the Trump administration. The facility’s owner, private prison contractor Geo Group, said Thursday it signed a 15-year contract with ICE worth about $60 million annually.

ICE officials said the new detention center would help it manage growing arrests and deportations ordered under President Donald Trump, who campaigned for reelection pledging a mass deportation effort. Delaney Hall’s closeness to Newark airport is also key, according to ICE.

“The location near an international airport streamlines logistics, and helps facilitate the timely processing of individuals in our custody as we pursue President Trump’s mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities,” acting ICE director Caleb Vitello said in a statement.

In an earnings call Thursday, Geo Group officials said they expect to open Delaney Hall by the end of June, and that expanding detention capacity to address “unprecedented” enforcement efforts is a priority under the Trump administration.

George Zoley, CEO of the prison company, said Delaney Hall is “brand-new inside and it’s all ready to go. All we need to do is the recruitment, the hiring, the background screening, and the training.”

Delaney Hall housed immigrant detainees between 2011 and 2017. Geo Group has been considering reopening it since at least April 2024, when it sued New Jersey over a state law that bars private and public companies from contracting with ICE to house immigrant detainees. A federal judge in 2023 ruled that the law is unconstitutional as it pertains to private companies, a ruling that New Jersey has appealed and has yet to be heard by a federal appellate court.

Michael Symons, a spokesman for Attorney General Matt Platkin, said the office hopes the judge’s ruling will be overturned on appeal.

“Private detention facilities threaten the public health and safety of New Jerseyans, including when used for immigration purposes,” Symons said.

When it opens, Delaney Hall will be the state’s second private detention center for immigrants. The other is the Elizabeth Detention Center, which can hold about 300 detainees.

Amy Torres, executive director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, criticized lawmakers for not acting on this issue while the Trump administration touted plans of mass deportation.

“I think what’s really surprising here is not that the site is opening. It’s that we’ve waited this long and still have done nothing,” she said. “The question of what more they could have done suggests they’ve done anything.”

Torres said critical protections could be put in place through the proposed Immigrant Trust Act legislation that has stalled in the Statehouse. The bill would bar public schools, health care facilities, shelters, and libraries from collecting data on immigration status and codify bans on local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities.

“The truth is, as soon as the first ruling was laid down, New Jersey should have gotten to acting on protecting immigrant communities, and they just, frankly, haven’t,” she said.

Rep. Rob Menendez (Fran Baltzer for New Jersey Monitor)

Rep. Rob Menendez (D-08) also urged lawmakers to pass the legislation, stressing that the unveiling of a new detention center in New Jersey is a clear signal of ramped-up enforcement removal efforts here.

“If they didn’t think the threat was real already, their eyes should be wide open right now, and the Immigrant Trust Act should be passed into law right now,” he told the New Jersey Monitor.

The Department of Homeland Security has touted a spike in arrests of undocumented immigrants since Trump regained the White House in January, saying Wednesday that more than 20,000 migrants have been arrested in that time. Raids have been reported around the state, from Union City to Haddon Township.

Newark made national headlines after ICE detained several migrants and questioned U.S. citizens at a warehouse in the city days after Trump took office. Thursday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka condemned the plans to reopen Delaney Hall as “nothing short of lawlessness.”

“We are a nation of laws. We will not stand by while ICE, under the heavy-handed policies of the Trump administration, operates with impunity — violating not only our values but the very legal processes that govern this country. This is more of the same bully behavior from Washington, which disregards the Constitution when it is convenient for their agenda,” he said in a statement.

Baraka said he will “explore every legal and political avenue” to challenge ICE’s move.

ICE is also exploring reopening the Albert M. “Bo” Robinson Treatment Center, a 1,000-bed facility in Trenton that held state prisoners until 2022. According to records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union in November, ICE is looking to house at least 600 immigrants there.

Menendez said lawmakers got “no heads up” about the decision to reopen Delaney Hall, but already knew the direction the administration was heading. During a recent visit to the Elizabeth Detention Center, the facility was nearing capacity, he said.

Eliana Fernández, director of organizing for immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey, said state officials have the ability to increase funding for deportation defense and ensure state resources won’t help ICE detain and deport immigrants.

“We must fight back against the narrative that detention and deportation is a moral crusade and a public good, but that in fact these are simply efforts to funnel public resources into the private prison industry,” she said.

Spokespeople for Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) declined to comment. Earlier this week, Scutari said he doesn’t think the state needs to pass the Immigrant Trust Act, citing a 2018 attorney general’s directive offering some protections, like barring local police from sharing data with ICE and cooperating in civil immigration enforcement operations. He believes expanding and codifying that directive would open the state up to a lawsuit.

Tyler Jones, a spokeswoman for Gov. Phil Murphy, said the administration is “extremely disappointed” in the news about Delaney Hall.

“Our Administration has previously fought to limit such entities opening in our state and will continue to do so,” Jones said.

In his budget address Tuesday, Murphy said he would defend immigrant communities and wants to give the Attorney General’s Office $1 million to fight lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Torres said ICE’s move to reopen Delaney Hall is an opportunity for Murphy to “show us what that looks like.”

“The very first ICE facility under the Trump administration is opening in your own backyard, your largest city,” she said. “So you’re a target anyway, whether you have the courage to act or not.”

Immigration activists have mixed feelings about guidance issued by the state Department of Education urging school districts to develop protocols in case federal immigration officials show up at schools.

The guidance came after the Trump administration threw out federal policies that protect undocumented immigrants from being arrested in “sensitive locations” like schools and churches, and amid a rise in uncertainty and fear in parents, children, and teachers about how far-reaching President Trump’s threat of mass deportation is.

“They knew that this was going to be the outcome, and they waited until this week to issue guidance. Better late than never, but at what cost?” said Amy Torres, director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “It’s great to put out this guidance, but I think it’s going to take a lot of effort to make sure that everyday administrators and teachers have time to go through and read all this.”

Since Trump took office Monday, his administration has rolled out the aggressive immigration policies he vowed to implement while on the campaign trail. He’s signed sweeping executive orders related to immigration, including expanding the military’s role in border security, canceling refugee resettlement, ending the asylum program, and attempting to limit the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration reversed guidance that had been in place for over a decade restricting immigration agencies from carrying out enforcement in “sensitive locations.”

“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

The state issued its guidance to schools Wednesday. It urges districts to develop protocols for how to handle Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who visit schools with an ICE warrant for arrest of alien or a warrant signed by a judge, how to support children and their families, and what type of information should be shared on the spot with immigration agents.

If an immigration agent declares an “exigent circumstance” and demands immediate access, school officials should comply and immediately notify top school administrators, the state says.

Torres called the language about exigent circumstances “fuzzy,” saying ICE agents have lied to families in order to arrest someone or masquerade as local law enforcement to get people to open their doors. ICE officials might make up those circumstances to access the school, she said.

Itzel Hernandez of immigrant rights group American Friends Service Committee said she supports the guidance, but believes it could be stronger. She said the vast majority of teachers aim to protect students and that they care about investing in students’ futures.

It’s why she’s not surprised at the overwhelming number of requests from schools seeking more resources on how to best support parents, educators, and students.

“There are so many schools asking for presentations and want to know what to do,” she said. “I’m glad guidance came from the top, and I’m sure that some folks will have at least some sense of direction after they see this.”

El Pueblo Unido is leaving these know-your-rights cards in businesses around Atlantic City. (Courtesy of Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez)

Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez is the founder of El Pueblo Unido, an immigrant advocacy group in Atlantic City. The organization sent a letter to Atlantic City school officials urging them to “move with all sense of urgency” to set up the protocols and policies called for in the guidance, he said.

“Our sense is that unless the community responds and shows up, that they won’t move on it. Our fear is that they won’t respond swiftly, and unfortunately, we’re in a situation where every day, families are at risk,” he said.

All the activists said they’ve heard reports of parents unenrolling their children from public school out of fear that ICE agents could show up and low attendance rates in schools with high immigrant populations.

“What we’re hearing both from our community and the network of teachers we organize with is that everyone is anxious and everyone is fearful of what could happen,” Moreno-Rodriguez added. “Everyone is sort of on alert in terms of when the next ICE raid will be. Will it be a job site? Will it be on the school route while parents are walking their kids to school?”

School staff should be prepared for the basics, Moreno-Rodriguez said, like educating secretaries and administrators on different warrants and ICE forms, how to communicate with immigration agents, and how to inform families of their rights related to immigration.

El Pueblo Unido and other immigrant organizations are holding “know your rights” workshops to educate people on what to do if there’s an ICE raid (Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said ICE agents raided a business in that city Thursday). Moreno-Rodriguez said he’s received messages from Atlantic City teachers who want to distribute the cards with information about people’s rights.

To avoid creating a sense of distrust or fear, Moreno-Rodriguez said he wants to be proactive and collaborate with multiple groups in the area — including teachers — to ensure immigrants don’t feel like they have to hide.

“I think the reality is that there will come a day where immigration officers come to Atlantic City or come to New Jersey, and that’s where if we’re not organizing now, then we’ll lose that battle of people retreating back into the shadows,” he said.

Embattled Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso stepped down Friday as part of a plea agreement that required his resignation following criminal charges and a racism scandal.

Bonaccorso, 64, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Union County to conspiracy to commit official misconduct in the third degree, and forgery in the fourth degree. As part of his plea agreement, Bonaccorso will have to pay a $15,000 fine over the course of three years and will be sentenced in February to probation.

Bonaccorso also agreed to forfeit his right to hold public office or employment again. After the court documents were signed during Friday morning’s hearing, the forfeiture went into effect immediately.

Voters reelected Bonaccorso, a Republican, in November to a seventh term, despite the public corruption charges and racist rants caught on tape.

He was first charged in November 2023 when the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability claimed Bonaccorso used municipal resources — computers and fax machines — while operating his oil tank storage removal business, Bonaccorso & Son LLC, without proper removal licensing. They also said he directed or used township employees to perform duties for his business while being paid by the township.

During their investigation, officials also found fraudulent signatures impersonating an engineer on permit applications.

“Today’s guilty plea secured by OPIA ends a long and sad betrayal of the community by someone who had been in a position of power and trust for a long time,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “Anyone who betrays the public’s trust by placing their own interests ahead of their duty as a public servant to New Jersey residents will be held accountable.”

His company is now ineligible from bidding for any public contracts, entering into public contracts, or conducting any business with the state or political subdivisions for five years. The company also is barred from conducting, or contracting to conduct, any storage tank removals for three years.

Bonaccorso wore a red tie and black suit in court Friday, making few comments besides directly addressing Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh’s questions. When asked if the value of the township services he used was below $200, he said, “I believe so.” And to another question about the charges he pled guilty to, he responded, “I know now.”

“Do you understand that it doesn’t matter whether or not you knew then?” Walsh asked Bonaccorso, who replied, “Yes.”

After the hearing, he walked past reporters without answering questions. His attorney Robert Stahl issued a statement calling the plea agreement the “best course forward for his health, his family and the town he so dearly loves and has devoted more than two decades to.”

Council President Angel Albanese will serve as acting mayor until the township’s Republican committee submits candidates to serve as interim mayor.

Bonaccorso came under fire in 2022 when NJ Advance Media published a conversation in which he used slurs to describe Black people. Gov. Phil Murphy then called for his resignation, but Bonaccorso refused to step down.

Within days of Vice President Kamala Harris announcing she would seek the presidency this November, Geri Jannarone said her phone buzzed nonstop from women reaching out to find ways to get involved.

Jannarone is the head of Emerge New Jersey, an organization that aims to increase the number of Democratic women in public office. She said the surge in interest in the race for the White House didn’t just come from politically active women, but also from those who have never labeled themselves as political people, she said.

“We’ve never seen anything like it, not since the Obama campaign,” said Jannarone. “It’s really exciting and important to have someone like Kamala at the very top because it is so representative of who New Jersey is, who we are, and what makes us.”

Jannarone is one of the many Democrats celebrating their party’s new ticket, with Harris at the top and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Jannarone believes Harris as the party’s standard-bearer will inspire more women to run for office, and she’s seen a new excitement over the campaign in communities of color and among younger voters.

Some polling backs her up. An Aug. 4 CBS News poll found younger and Black voters are more likely to go to the polls now that Harris is the nominee. The poll says 74% of Black registered voters say they will definitely vote, compared to 58% in July, when President Biden was still planning to seek reelection.

Marilyn Davis of public affairs firm MDD Connections said her 20-year-old niece, who wasn’t planning to vote for Biden in part because of his failed attempt to fully forgive student loans, is eager to campaign for Harris, Davis said.

“I’m like, ‘What? In a nanosecond, you’re not only ready to support the vice president, but actually go out on the campaign trail, which you’ve never done in your life,’” Davis said. “So there is absolutely so much excitement about her candidacy.”

Davis previously worked with the Democratic National Committee during Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. Now, she’s helping organize virtual fundraisers for Harris, create county-level teams to boost her campaign, and shift some resources over to Pennsylvania.

Harris’ campaign may resonate with women not just because some want to see a woman win the White House but because of how front of mind reproductive rights is in this election, Jannarone said. She also noted former President Donald Trump “showed us who he is again” after telling a group of Black journalists last week that Harris “happened to turn Black” — Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother who both immigrated to America — and that undocumented immigrants are “taking Black jobs.”

Those comments “absolutely offended” communities of color, said Davis. And, she added, who is Trump to define someone’s race?

Republicans have blasted Harris’ promotion to the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket as one that disenfranchised 14 million primary voters who cast their ballots for Biden.

Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican public affairs strategist, said New Jersey Republicans are happy to have women as their party’s leaders, noting that New Jersey’s only woman governor, Christine Todd Whitman, is a Republican and former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was the Republican nominee for governor in 2017 (Whitman this week endorsed Harris over Trump).

But Hoffman added Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, isn’t doing any favors to gain support from voters, pointing to comments he made in a 2021 Fox News interview saying that people without children “don’t really have a direct stake” in the nation.

“Republicans always need to work harder to appeal to women voters, and J.D. Vance and his ‘childless cat women’ comments certainly isn’t helping that mission,” she said.

The CBS News poll also showed a third of Republicans are more motivated to vote now that Harris will be Trump’s opponent. Christine Fano, who chairs the Republican Committee of Montville Township, said Harris’ “leftist” policies and Walz’s “extreme” views have suburban moms afraid of what a Harris presidency would look like.

“This is basically, it’s a call — we have to save America,” she said.

Fano said she doesn’t believe suburban moms are connecting with Harris. People want to hear more about kitchen table issues, she said, like the skyrocketing cost of groceries, gasoline, and housing.

“They don’t buy what she’s selling. They feel as though she’s a phony,” Fano said. “She didn’t really have any accomplishments before she became vice president. I think many women believe it’s wonderful someone who is in leadership be a woman, but she really has to have merit.”

Amid Democratic excitement for the new ticket — Davis said she joined a Zoom call with tens of thousands of Black women that was organized within hours of Harris’ campaign launch — some Democrats remain trepidatious.

Earlier this month, former Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer joined a similar Zoom call for South Asians supporting Harris. She said numerous messages in the chat asked what Harris would do to bring a cease-fire in Gaza and how her approach to the war in Gaza would be different than Biden’s.

Jaffer said it’s “definitely powerful” to have a Black and South Asian woman on a major-party ticket, but said she and others remain “cautiously optimistic.” While Arab American communities are relieved that Biden isn’t seeking reelection, families are also grappling with losing dozens of members amid the war, she said.

Jaffer wants to see more outreach from the Harris campaign to Muslim communities and Arab Americans in New Jersey. With their priorities and perspectives heard, the Harris campaign would have a “winning strategy,” she said.

“We have to be consistent as Democrats — if we say that we believe in equality, and that every person’s life is valuable and deserves dignity and safety, that has to apply in our international endeavors as well,” she said.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and X.

George Norcross III, a powerful Democratic power broker, was charged with racketeering on Monday along with five others including his personal lawyer, his brother, and a former Camden mayor.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin unveiled the 13-count indictment during an unusual press conference in Trenton in front of an audience that included Norcross, who sat in the front row and at one point refused to move seats when asked to by someone in Platkin’s office.

“Is there someone more significant than the lead defendant in the case to have a seat in the front row while he’s being excoriated by the attorney general of the state?” one of the defendant’s lawyers asked.

The indictment accuses Norcross of overseeing a criminal enterprise, using direct threats and intimidation to win development rights along the Camden waterfront and then benefiting from millions of dollars in state-issued tax credits.

In one instance, the indictment alleges Norcross told an unnamed developer who didn’t want to give up their waterfront property that he would ensure the developer never does business in Camden again. The indictment alleges that Norcross later recounted the conversation in this way in a recorded conversation:

“Are you threatening me?” the developer asked.

“Absolutely,” Norcross responded.

Platkin said Monday that Norcross and his allies manipulated government programs designed to attract development and investment to instead suit their own financial desires.

“Instead of contributing to the successes of the city of Camden, through a series of criminal acts alleged in the state’s case, the Norcross enterprise took the Camden waterfront all for themselves,” the attorney general said.

The indictment includes salty language not uncommon to New Jersey political scandals. It alleges Norcross once threatened a developer that he would “f**k you up like you’ve never been f**ked up before.”

The charges come during a turbulent year in New Jersey politics. In March, Democratic Party bosses lost the chance to use county-line ballots to push their favored candidates during primaries, and in May, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s second corruption trial in the last seven years began in a federal courthouse in Manhattan. Menendez, a Democrat, has indicated he will seek reelection as an independent in November if he is not convicted, a move that is certain to harm the chances of the Democratic nominee to succeed him, Rep. Andy Kim.

Norcross’ co-defendants are his brother Philip Norcross, who runs the Parker McKay law firm; Dana Redd, the former Camden mayor; Bill Tambussi, Norcross’ attorney; Sidney Brown, the head of trucking company NFI and a Norcross business partner; and John J. O’Donnell, a real estate developer and president of The Michaels Organization. There are also several unnamed co-conspirators, Platkin added.

“This alleged conduct of the Norcross enterprise has caused great harm to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, the people of the state of New Jersey, and especially to the city of Camden and its residents,” Platkin said. “That stops today.”

When a reporter asked about Norcross’ presence at the press conference, Platkin refused to comment.

The charges including racketeering, official misconduct, conspiracy to commit theft, financial facilitation of criminal activity, and misconduct by a corporate official.

Norcross denies the allegations. Norcross, an insurance executive and chairman of the Camden-based Cooper University Health Care, has long maintained great political power in Camden and in greater South Jersey. His brother Donald is a member of the House of Representatives.

Speaking to reporters after the charges were released, Norcross suggested the case is Platkin’s payback for being “humiliated and exposed” in front of a Senate committee that investigated rape allegations of a campaign staffer for Gov. Phil Murphy (the staffer has said she told Platkin about her claims and he mishandled them). Norcross also suggested Platkin’s political ambitions are to blame — Norcross called Platkin a politician “masquerading as an attorney general.”

“I want to go to trial in two weeks. I want Matt Platkin to come down here and try this case himself, because he’s a coward, because he has forced people in this building to implement his will,” Norcross said.

Platkin’s announcement comes on the heels of charges his office filed Friday against two South Jersey Transportation Authority board members who are alleged to have used their positions to punish a Norcross foe.

The new allegations stretch back to at least 2012. Norcross and his allies wielded their political influence — at the time, Norcross was aligned with the state Senate president, Stephen Sweeney — to tailor economic development legislation to their preference before extorting and coercing landowners to obtain property rights in Camden to benefit Norcross and his allies, Platkin alleges.

“As George Norcross himself allegedly said, ‘This is for our friends,’” Platkin said.

Platkin alleges Norcross and his allies helped pass a law in September 2013 called the Economic Opportunity Act. Norcross, in a meeting with allies ahead of the law’s enactment, said he wanted to use the new legislation to construct an office building for free, according to the indictment.

The indictment lays out how the Norcross team exchanged emails with top political leaders at the time, including former Gov. Chris Christie and Sweeney, sending talking points in support of the bill. And following the law’s enactment, lawyers lobbied to amend it in a way that would benefit Cooper hospital, according to the indictment.

Authorities allege Philip Norcross touted the law — even while noting “this probably is not such a good thing” — because the state would cover tax credits for all capital and related costs for developers coming to Camden with jobs.

“Over ten years, it’s a hundred percent, and … it will cause real havoc, it’s unlimited,” he said in a recorded conversation, according to the indictment.

Overall, the law doled out lucrative tax breaks to businesses in the form of billions of dollars. Later, Murphy’s administration would establish a task force to investigate how the awards were granted.

The charges announced Monday include allegations surrounding the L3 complex, two three-story buildings and surface parking on a 21-acre lot near the Camden waterfront. The claims offer an illustration of how Platkin’s office alleges the Norcross team operated.

Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, a nonprofit redevelopment organization, was seeking to purchase the L3 site. Norcross allies intervened, according to the indictment, by having the Camden mayor’s office instruct the nonprofit’s leaders to meet regularly with Philip Norcross “so the Norcross Enterprise could monitor what the nonprofit was doing,” the indictment says. Philip Norcross then told the nonprofit it would suffer repercussions if it chose their own developer instead of one of the Norcross team’s choosing, according to the indictment.

In the end, Cooper’s Ferry — which could have partnered with a developer and earned millions from shared profits — instead sold the property at a “discounted price” to the Norcross-chosen developer, the indictment says. Cooper University Health Care then bought a substantial ownership share in the developer and over the next four years, won $27 million in state tax credits, the indictment says.

The state also claims that after this episode, a Norcross ally threatened the Cooper’s Ferry CEO, forcing him to resign. Cooper’s Ferry became Camden Community Partnership in 2021. Redd is now its president and CEO.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and X.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the charges against Clark’s longtime mayor, Sal Bonaccorso, during a press conference where Platkin also released a scathing 43-page report alleging police brass of violating the department’s regulations and making “disturbing” racist comments.

“There is a social contract that imposes an expectation that officials in positions of governmental and law enforcement leadership will do the right thing, act not in self-interest but in service to the greater good, and treat all people with respect and dignity as equals,” Platkin said. “These are not naive ideals or lofty ambitions but rather the bare minimum expectations communities should have in their leaders. The leaders in the Clark Police Department, and the township more generally, failed to keep up their end of that bargain.”

Platkin’s investigation stems from allegations dating to 2020, when the town agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a lawsuit to avoid the release of secret recordings of Bonaccorso and police officials using racist and misogynistic language.

The long-awaited report says there is no evidence of criminal misconduct stemming from the racism investigation, but officials recommended terminations for two police officials anyway, including the town’s police chief. Platkin said he does not have the authority to fire them.

That investigation exposed the mayor’s alleged wrongdoing, state investigators say. While acting as mayor, Bonaccorso, 63, used municipal resources by storing records related to his landscaping business, Bonaccorso & Son, in the mayor’s office and using township devices like computers and fax machines for the private business, state officials said. He also directed township employees to perform work for the business, according to Platkin.

Platkin’s office also alleges Bonaccorso improperly removed hundreds of underground storage tanks in nearly two dozen towns starting in 2017. It claims not only that Bonaccorso did not have the necessary permits to perform this work, but that he also fraudulently used an engineer’s name and license number — and forged a signature on permit applications — without that engineer’s knowledge.

Platkin’s office also alleges Bonaccorso misrepresented to the towns where he formed this work that the engineer was the on-site supervisor.

Plus, after Bonaccorso learned of the state’s investigation, he told a witness to provide false information to state investigators, according to the complaint.

Bonaccorso is charged with official misconduct, records tampering, witness tampering, falsifying records, and forgery. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. His attorney did not respond to comment.

Bonaccorso apologized for the racist comments heard in the secret recordings but resisted calls to step down. He was last reelected in 2020 and his term expires next year.

The Clark Police Department has remained under the control of the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and Platkin’s office since July 2020. Platkin said both agencies took “painstaking care to thoroughly investigate all aspects of this case.”

The report recommends two men, Police Chief Pedro Matos and Sgt. Joseph Teston, be terminated. They have both been on paid leave since the inception of the investigation.

“Our findings render them unfit to serve as law enforcement, and I’m calling for their immediate termination,” Platkin said.

State investigators claim Matos failed to conduct an internal affairs investigation, did not self-report allegations of misconduct, and violated standards of conduct related to derogatory comments. Platkin also said Matos lied to investigators during internal affairs proceedings.

Investigators obtained a recording of Matos using a racial epithet to describe a group of children who said they were victims of a bias crime. The report calls his comment “reprehensible” with a “disturbing” context.

The recordings were first published by NJ Advance Media, which revealed the town’s $400,000 settlement.

The report also alleges that while on paid leave, Teston was arrested at a sporting event in New York for striking a stranger in the head with a glass bottle. The report doesn’t state the charge, which was eventually dropped, but says it would have been a charge of aggravated assault in New Jersey. His actions “demonstrate a troubling level of poor judgment and frankly, a lack of respect for human life,” the report states.

The report touches on allegations that Clark police improperly pull over Black drivers more than white motorists. The Division on Civil Rights, which is within the Attorney General’s Office, will review preliminary data revealing the stark racial disparities in traffic stops in the town. The report found that 44% of people arrested during traffic stops in Clark were Black. Ninety-three percent of the town’s residents are white.

Platkin noted township officials could face additional civil investigations. The state Office of Attorney Ethics, the state Comptroller’s Office, and the Division of Pension and Benefits will continue investigating aspects of the case.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and Twitter.

Gopal’s victory in this closely watched race came amid Republican attacks on his stances on offshore wind, crime, and LGTBQ issues in schools. His election to a third term in the state Senate dimmed GOP hopes that they could take control of the chamber.

“What we did tonight in Monmouth County is we drew political parties together to bring this massive landslide. If that doesn’t send a message to our opposition, I don’t know what will,” Gopal said to a crowd of about 300 supporters Tuesday night in Long Branch.

Gopal and his running mates —Assemblywomen-elect Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul — were introduced by Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), who said the trio showed that the Republican-leaning 11th District “is no longer competitive.”

Gov. Phil Murphy also joined the festivities, whooping and cheering after the speeches wrapped up.

“You are rocking, baby!” Murphy told the crowd of energetic supporters

Throughout the night, as it became clear Gopal would win, his supporters chanted, “Vin with win!”

On the campaign trail, Gopal focused on abortion, tax relief, and increased school funding for local districts. He also highlighted his bipartisanship and his support from law enforcement.

Democrats said voters clearly rejected the GOP’s arguments on parental rights. Republicans had hoped legal battles between the Murphy administration and some Monmouth County school districts — battles focused on whether school employees should be required to tell parents if their children change their gender identity or sexuality — would boost the GOP in this district.

Murphy called Tuesday’s outcome a “huge validation of our collective agenda, and that has been extraordinary.”

“This should tell every Republican senator that when you’re running on culture wars, you’re not doing anything productive for residents on affordability, taxes, mental health. That should tell you that your message is not a good one,” Gopal said.

Republican Assemblywomen Marilyn Piperno and Kim Eulner lost their seats to Donlon and Peterpaul by about 7,000 votes each. Dnistrian, a businessman who has never held elected office, did not immediately comment on the election results.

“It’s a good night for Democrats,” Scutari said. “I feel great.”

This year, Democrats spent millions to defend Gopal’s seat and flip the two Assembly seats, making it one of the most expensive races in state history. In 2021, Gopal won reelection with 52% of the vote, but his running mates lost to Eulner and Piperno.

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