By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
Gov. Phil Murphy used part of Monday’s COVID-19 press conference to decry the anti-Semitism seen as part of the Trump supporters’ insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and said the state is gearing up for a proposed protest at the state capital on Sunday, Jan. 17.
Some news sources have reported an armed protest is being planned for the capital in Trenton Jan. 17.
Murphy, responding to questions from reporters at the press conference Monday, said state and police officials are aware of the reports and were putting all available resources to make sure there was no violence.
ABC News reported an internal FBI bulletin warned of armed protests at all 50 state capitals Jan. 16 to 20.
“We’re not getting into much detail but we’re not taking anything for granted,” Murphy said. “We take this very seriously. We don’t want to underprepare for this.”
Neither he nor State Police Commander Pat Callahan said they could absolutely “guarantee” the protest would be fully controlled. “I hope if they do show up they do so in a peaceful manner,” Callahan said.
New Jersey is asking anyone who hears about suspicious activity or planned violence to report it on New Jersey’s anonymous tip line 866-4-SAFE-NJ (1-866-472-3365).
“We need the community to report to us,” said Jared Maples, director of New Jersey’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.”
When asked whether he would advise people who are considering counter-protesting to stay home, he acknowledged everyone’s right to protest on Jan. 17, but said even if people’s hearts are in the right place, there was “no need to get into the mix.”
Anti-Semitism
At the start of the press conference, Murphy showed photos of two of the Capitol insurrectionists, one wearing a 6MWE T-shirt (6 million weren’t enough) and another wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt, both glorifying the Holocaust in Nazi Germany in World War II in which 6 million Jews and 11 million others were killed.
The governor reminded the public that “anti-Semitism in this world, in this country, and, sadly, in this state, is alive and well and runs deep.” He said for all of the people who haven’t spoken out against the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, “your silence is enabling.”
Referring to the “jerks” in the T-shirts, “this is who you are standing with.” They are the most violent members of the right wing “and when you refuse to denounce what they’ve done, it’s the same as giving them a pass. When you excuse their actions, you empower them. Think about what your silence in the face of political violence is enabling.”