About 200 gather to support officers, department
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
NORTHFIELD — More than 200 people gathered Tuesday, July 14, outside City Hall and the police station to show their support for officers in a “Back the Blue” rally.
The vast majority of those gathered came together in a peaceful show of unity with police, but a small group of aggressive, flag-waving bullies confronted a Black Lives Matter counterdemonstration in the street, shouting, calling names and generally being disrespectful.
Rich Baehrle, a Northfield resident all decked out in red, white and blue shorts and shirt, said he showed up “to back the city, to support the police department and make sure it is never thought about to defund the police department. We’re here to protect it and send out a statement not only for Northfield but for the whole region that the police departments are here to stay and they’re here to protect the people.”
Northfield resident Suzanne Lyman said she attended to speak out against Councilwoman Susan Korngut, who many wrongly believed was planning to introduce a resolution to defund the police department.
“I heard that she was going to propose to defund the police today. … I would like to hear what her ideas are and to find out what she means by that,” Lyman said, admitting that she never heard Korngut say she wanted to defund the police department. “I’m assuming that because she is a Democrat she wants to defund the police. That’s what all of the Democrats want to do.”
Standing in the street wearing a “Back the Blue” hat and carrying a Thin Blue Line flag, Dereck Davis, of Ocean County, was in town to stand with his children who are Northfield residents.
“I believe in law and order,” he said. “They need to know that we support them.”
The rally was fueled by a report from WPG Talk Radio host Harry Hurley, who wrote an article July 13 with the headline “Northfield Councilwoman Korngut to propose defunding police.” In it, Hurley wrote “Northfield City Councilwoman Susan Korngut supports defunding the Northfield Police Department. … This is a dangerous and misguided concept. Everyone who has ever proposed this never shares what would take the ‘place’ of sworn police officers.”
Prior to the rally, posts on the Facebook group Northfield NJ Lounge encouraged participation, with those commenting largely showing support for the city’s officers.
Some cited a video showing Korngut speaking at a Black Lives Matter march in Brigantine in mid June. At the rally, she said she was in process of “advancing a resolution that would have us review the policies and procedures of our police department and that would condemn the murder of George Floyd.” She also alluded to racial profiling of drivers in the city.
But she never said a word about defunding the police.
There was no item on the agenda for the July 14 meeting regarding the police department. The document is always released prior to the meeting.
Reached Tuesday morning, Korngut said she felt the gathering was aimed at intimidating her.
“This isn’t a police support rally, it’s a ‘We Hate Susan’ rally,” Korngut said. “I never said this.”
During the meeting, Councilman Brian Smith proposed a resolution not on the agenda “recognizing and supporting the city of Northfield police department.” Korngut proposed tabling the resolution until something more bipartisan could be put together but that motion failed. The resolution passed in a 5-2 vote, with Korngut and Councilwoman Barbara Madden voting against it.
Korngut also posted a message on her Facebook page Monday evening, stating in part: “The people will be showing up because they have been lied to and they want to yell at me. That is why we have a 1st Amendment so they can have at it, but any Dem Club who is associating my name with that nonsense is mistaken or lying. … I just found out Harry Hurley, famed 45 (President Trump) lover and conservative radio show host is lying about me now. … I am not proposing defunding Northfield police nor did I ever say I was.”
The city shut down part of Shore Road during the rally, which began shortly before 6 p.m. and lasted until after 10 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who is running for re-election to the House of Representatives in November against Amy Kennedy of Brigantine, attended to show his support among a friendly crowd of Trump flag wavers.
“All of you who support all of our men and our women who are literally willing to put their lives on the line every single day, we have to let them know that they are not to be demeaned, they are not to be diminished and they are not to be defunded,” Van Drew said to cheers from the crowd. “It has always been our military and our police that keep us great, that keep us safe, that keep us strong. And more than anything we want to be a strong America.”
Out of the crowd, Van Drew told The Sentinel that his purpose for being at the rally was “to let all these folks who know our police officers, men and women, the very vast majority of them are doing the best they can to protect us and keep us safe. I think my purpose here today is, as an elected official, for my police to know where I stand, and not to be vague about it. Not to try to play both sides or be a fence walker.
“We should have confidence in what they do and we can do things like community policing and work together to make sure that where there are problems that we can fix them.”
Van Drew said he had not heard Korngut mention defunding the police but “her view of police and policing and the men and women that protect us is radically different than my view.”
He said he had expected to face Kennedy in the general election and that there will be a clear division between the candidates.
“I think she is going to have her viewpoints, I think I am going to have my viewpoints. I think they are going to be very different and I think that it will be a good election because people will really have a choice,” Van Drew said. “They’re going to have the choice in what they believe, they are going to have the choice where they think the future of America is, they are going to have a choice in whether we should continue the Americanism that we have, whether we should continue the extraordinary country that we have and the way that we know it, or if we should go to a whole new model.”
Asked whether the election would be about representing the Second Congressional District or simply supporting the president, whom he pledged “undying support” to, Van Drew said “it is always about helping your people, taking care of your people. I always have Democrat, Republican, independent — I don’t care what party they are … I work for you.”
Defending his switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party after being elected, he said “Democrats, Republicans and independents supported me. They didn’t support just a party. They didn’t vote in a party position. I’m not in party leadership. I am a congressman, and they voted for me for Congress, regardless of what political party.
“The Democratic Party went too far astray when I was told how I had to vote and if I didn’t vote a certain way I would be punished. That was the cutoff for me.”
Other elected officials, such as Northfield Councilman Jim O’Neill and Somers Point City Councilman James Toto, were in attendance.
Toto, who is running for a seat on the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders against incumbent Caren Fitzpatrick of Linwood, was at the rally “backing the blue 100 percent.”
“If anybody has the idea of defunding or disbanding the police it’s absolutely ludicrous,” Toto said. “What’s the plan if we do?”
He admitted he never heard Korngut say she wanted to defund the police but said it’s clear what she thinks from her Facebook page and statements she has made.
“What she’s saying sounds like the same message,” Toto said.
But Toto added he was there to support local police officers in any way.
“This is us saying we have good police officers. Don’t judge the entire police force on one bad cop or two bad cops,” Toto said. “You wouldn’t want to be judged by somebody else’s work, would you?”
