NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey environmental officials will allow a shore town to carry out emergency repairs to its badly eroded beachfront, even as they continue a years-long fight with city officials over how best to protect the popular Jersey Shore resort’s fragile coastline.
On Wednesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection told North Wildwood it could reshape three blocks worth of dunes and repair public access points to a condition that they can be safely used in time for the approaching Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The move marked a turning point in a long-running dispute between the city and the state over how to ensure that the beach is wide enough for recreation and to ensure that dunes are sturdy enough to protect the city from coastal storms.
North Wildwood and its surrounding coastal neighbors have not received the periodic beach replenishment projects that most of the rest of the Jersey Shore has been getting for decades, due in part to the difficulty of getting approval from property owners.
As a result, it has experienced serious erosion over the last decade, and says it needs to take immediate emergency steps including shoring up dunes and building another steel sea wall to complement one it already built.
The state has repeatedly denied permission for such work, saying it could actually worsen erosion due to the scouring effect of waves carrying sand along hard barriers like sea walls. It says the city should continue to rely on trucking in sand from mainland quarries. But the city has spent $21 million doing that over the past decade, and is suing the state to recoup those costs.
In a letter to the city the DEP cited the emergency nature of the work to be done in explaining why it is now giving permission for it.
The permission to repair the dunes represented a victory for North Wildwood, even if it proves short-lived.
“What we have been requesting is so obvious that it would have been ridiculous if they said no again,” said Mayor Patrick Rosenello, a Republican. “For them to finally agree with what we’ve been saying is certainly satisfying.”
The federal government has said a beach replenishment in the Wildwoods would begin 18 to 24 months after all approvals are granted, Rosenello said.
“Even if we got every approval tomorrow, we’re still looking at 2025 at the earliest before we get that project here,” he said.
Rosenello said trucks should begin moving sand next week, and predicted the repairs would be complete before Memorial Day weekend.
In tangled, ongoing litigation, the state is suing North Wildwood for $12 million over previous unapproved beach repairs. The city is suing the state back to recoup the cost of trucking sand onto the eroded beach.
Numerous violation notices issued by the state remain active, including one that involves work the city did several years ago along a section of beachfront that it said had become badly eroded. The state said the work destroyed 8 acres of vegetated dunes, including 6.7 acres of critical wildlife habitat, and 1.1 acres of freshwater wetlands.
North Wildwood built a vinyl and steel bulkhead for about 10 blocks without state approval, saying it needed to act urgently to protect lives and property. That is separate from the latest bulkhead the city wanted to build, but agreed to forego for now.
Rosenello said the city has reapplied through normal channels for permission to do more extensive beach work instead of seeking emergency approval as it has been since last fall.
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. has opened a medical-marijuana dispensary in Limerick, Montgomery County.
The 451 West Ridge Pike Store, near Route 422 between Pottstown and Norristown, will be open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The dispensary opened Friday.
“Pennsylvania is one of the strongest medical markets in America,” Trulieve Chief Executive Officer Kim Rivers said in a statement.
Pennsylvania allows only patients with medical-marijuana cards to buy cannabis products. Across the Delaware River in New Jersey, anybody 21 or older can buy marijuana leaf, pre-rolled joints, gummies and more.
New Jersey’s laws allow Garden State residents and anybody of age visiting the state to shop at licensed stores. Purchases are limited to one ounce (28.35 grams) of cannabis per transaction. Dispensaries do not sell perishable edibles, such as cookies or brownies.
Trulieve-affiliated dispensaries operate throughout Pennsylvania, including in Camp Hill, Coatesville, Devon, Harrisburg, King of Prussia, Reading, Scranton, Whitehall and other locations. The company has operations in 11 states.
“We provide the relief you need in a safe and natural way,” the company’s website says.
Trulieve is based in Tallahasee, Florida, and is traded on the OTXQX market under the ticker symbol TCNNF. The closing price Friday was $4.22.
Tiny Colts Neck, New Jersey, sits just 50 miles from New York City. But it might as well be a world away. In July 2013, this quiet community was rocked by news of a violent home invasion where the victim was stabbed repeatedly. The only thing more shocking: the victim survived.
Donna Ongsiako: My name is Donna Ongsiako. …I lost in total, close to three quarters of the blood in my body. There’s no earthly reason why I’m alive. None.
Jim Axelrod: If I had asked you at the time to give me a list of 100 things you’re worried about, where would have home invasion been?
Donna Ongsiako: Oh, no. Never.
Donna worked for a company that brokered fuel for ships on the nearby Jersey shore. She and her daughter Kiersten lived in a farmhouse on the edge of flower fields.
Kiersten Ongsiako: She was 20 when she had me. So, we’re only 20 years and one day apart.
Friend Sharon Sharpe hired Donna decades ago.
Jim Axelrod: Kiersten had just been born?
Sharon Sharpe: Yeah, Kiersten was a baby. … I thought she was really brave … being a single mom … very young.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I was by her side all the time.
Donna Ongsiako, left, lived with her adult daughter, Kiersten. But on the night of her attack, she was home alone. Her daughter was out at a party.
Kiersten Ongsiako
Kiersten, who now works as a welder, recalls what life was like just prior to her mother’s attack.
Kiersten Ongsiako: We were going to the gym multiple times a week. … Not only was she, like, mentally strong, but she was physically strong.
Sharon Sharpe: She was so fit. She did Tough Mudders with Kiersten.
Donna Ongsiako: I like that competition … I like to show strength, physical strength …
Donna Ongsiako: Things couldn’t have been any better at that time.
That’s when Saturday of July Fourth weekend rolled around. Monmouth County Detective Andrea Tozzi says they were having a heatwave.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was … humid. … But we had no … rain or anything like that. … I mean it was a dry night.
Jim Axelrod: So, Donna — had her windows open.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. … She had her windows open … just to obviously to circulate air.
Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten was out at a party. … So, I was home doing laundry. … I’d say about 11:00, 11:30. I decide … I’m going to get ready for bed. … I let the cat out. I went and brushed my teeth.
But just as she was drifting off to sleep —
Donna Ongsiako: I heard what I thought was the cat. I heard something, and I remembered, oh, I forgot to let the cat in.
Without turning on any lights, Donna headed downstairs to open the front door for her cat.
Donna Ongsiako: But instead, when I opened the door, I saw someone standing there. … In the split second … after seeing this person on my porch, I saw the knife. … He was trying to cut into the screen of the window that was right next to the front door.
When she opened the door, Donna Ongsiako says she saw a stranger on her porch. He had a knife and was attempting to cut her window screen.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
She says she didn’t recognize the young white male standing right in front of her, holding a large knife.
Donna Ongsiako: I tried to slam and shut the door. … My fingers were protruding out. He stuck the knife through the opening and … cut my finger so that I immediately let go of the door. And then he pushed his way in.[…]
Donna Ongsiako: I’m backing into my kitchen. We’re face to face. … It didn’t register to me that he was actually going to stab me.
But without a word, that’s exactly what the stranger did.
Donna Ongsiako: He slashed my cheek. And you can see that here. And actually, it starts back here (points to the right side of her face and ear). … There was no way to process that that happened.
Donna’s attacker came at her with the knife again.
Donna Ongsiako: He then slashed three times on this side of my neck.
She tried grabbing the knife but only cut her own hand in the process.
Jim Axelrod: Did you feel like you were dealing with somebody who was really strong?
Donna Ongsiako: No. But I felt like he was very sure, like he was very in control of himself.
Donna was starting to weaken from the injuries.
Donna Ongsiako: I felt like … my legs were going to give out. … So, I braced myself against the corner of my bathroom … right next to the front door.
Sure enough, she slid down to the floor.
Donna Ongsiako points to one of her scars from the attack.
CBS News
Donna Ongsiako: I was in fetal position … and I’m bleeding. And he came over and … it was kind of like he was playing, you know, with the knife and just started jabbing at me. So, that’s when he caught me here (points to a scar near the left side of her mouth). Um, and he got me in the back of my neck here (point to the back left side of her neck).
Finally, Donna’s attacker spoke to her.
Donna Ongsiako: This was when he decided … to ask me for my car keys and if I had a lighter …
Jim Axelrod: A lighter?
Donna Ongsiako: I just answered him. There’s a lighter in my purse. And my purse was on the table back in the kitchen. … So, he went over and was rummaging through my purse and got the keys, got the lighter.
Donna’s assailant ended up taking her entire purse with him, but not before returning one last time to Donna, still bleeding on the floor.
Donna Ongsiako: He said … “you dead bitch” and plunged the knife into my chest.
Jim Axelrod: Once he plunges the knife in and then removes it? What does he do then?
Donna Ongsiako: He just walked out the door.
With no neighbors in ear shot, Donna knew she must get help — somehow.
Jim Axelrod: Your phone isn’t in reach?
Donna Ongsiako: No, my phone was upstairs in my bedroom charging.
Donna had no landline in the house. But even as the blood was draining rapidly from her body, she had one pressing concern above her own survival.
Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten could come home and find me. … I just didn’t want her to have to experience … any level of the horror that I had just gone through or any other levels in finding me there dead.
Jim Axelrod: So, this is a mother’s instinct as pure as it gets.
Donna Ongsiako: Yes, absolutely. Yeah.
Jim Axelrod: You know you have to get upstairs if you’re going to be able to make a call for help.
Donna Ongsiako: Right.
Jim Axelrod: How do you get up those stairs?
Donna Ongsiako: That I don’t know. … There was divine intervention that helped me up those stairs. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.
AN INSPIRED CLIMB
Laurie Gerhardt: She’s a tiny little woman. … You have to imagine … that many stab wounds. And she just willed it. She was not going to die there.
Former Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says Donna Ongsiako was determined her daughter, Kiersten, would not come home to find her dead. She knew she had to get to her cellphone upstairs.
Donna says thinking about her daughter finding her dead motivated her to climb these stairs despite her serious injuries.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Donna Ongsiako: I don’t remember … my feet or my hands actually touching the stairs. … The energy that it took for me to get up off the ground and up those stairs. … I was definitely guided.
Kiersten Ongsiako: The amount of strength that goes into that is just unimaginable.
Jim Axelrod: But the motivation was you.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah, yeah. Maybe I was there guiding her in spirit.
Once Donna made it upstairs, she faced a new challenge after peering out her bedroom window.
Jim Axelrod (outside Donna’s house): She had a car sitting right here?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She had a car sitting right in this area.
Donna Ongsiako: I could still see the car was there and I could see the car was on and he was in it. … If I take my phone off the charger, it’s going to light up. … He’s going to see the light.
Afraid her attacker would come back for her, Donna did her best to hide the light of the phone. Then, just getting it to work became the next hurdle.
Donna Ongsiako: My hands are covered in blood. My touch screen … I was trying to swipe and swipe. … I ended up having to … wipe my hands off, wipe the phone off, wipe it down … on the bed. … And then I was able to do the touch screen and get through to 911.
DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: Uh, my name is Donna Ongsiako. I just got stabbed really bad. … Some kid just came in and stabbed me. He stole my car.
911 OPERATOR: OK, OK, OK. Just stay on the phone with me, OK? Where did you get stabbed?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: In the neck. Blood is gushing out. And in the chest.
Detective Andrea Tozzi says Donna’s ability to place that call despite her injuries was amazing, but then Donna did something even more extraordinary. She gave a detailed description of her attacker.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Do you know what he looked like?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: Yeah, he was probably about 17. White, real skinny, curly hair. Blonde, dirty blonde hair. … Backpack.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was pretty chilling to … listen to Donna and be able to hear her accurately … talk about “this is what happened. This is what he looks like.”
DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: I’m losing consciousness.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: And then hear her fade out.
911 OPERATOR: Donna? Donna? Hello, Donna? Donna?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: Yes, ma’am. … I think I just passed out for a minute.
Police and paramedics arrived less than eight minutes after Donna dialed 911, but her attacker had already fled. Donna was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center and into trauma surgery. It would be a few more hours before Kiersten arrived home from her party to a house surrounded by flashing lights.
Donna Ongsiako’s house was on the edge of a flower farm in Colts Neck, N.J., with no neighbors in earshot.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Kiersten Ongsiako: I saw the caution tape and that her car was gone.
Police told Kiersten what happened to her mother.
Jim Axelrod: You were deeply shaken.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Oh, yeah. I remember at one point … my knees buckled … they had the SUV, the undercover cop car. The trunk was open. So, I was like, can I sit here because I feel like I’m going to pass out.
As Kiersten was processing the news, an all-out manhunt had already begun for Donna’s assailant. Detective Tozzi says another 911 call had come in shortly before Donna’s attack from a driver who saw someone walking along the road near Donna’s house.
911 CALLER: I was going to pick up my daughter and there was a kid hitchhiking.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: They saw a young man … with a backpack and khaki pants. … He was walking close to the fog line and kind of stepping into traffic. … She felt that he was kind of a hitchhiker.
911 CALLER: He was on the north bound side, walking south bound, and I’m afraid he’s gonna get hit by a car …
911 OPERATOR: How old about? Caller: I’m gonna say like 18,19, 20. Something like that.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was concerned because she just thought that maybe he needed help in some way.
Jim Axelrod: And was a car dispatched?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. Yes. They didn’t find him, though.
Still, the Good Samaritan driver had inadvertently given the investigation its first lead.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I felt like the hitchhiker was my person. … It was too coincidental … for that time of the night in that area, for somebody to be walking … and then 15 minutes later … Donna’s calling to say that she was stabbed.
And there was about to be another tip — not long after Donna’s 911 call — from a fast-food restaurant five miles from her house.
Not long after Ongsiako’s 911 call, police got a call from a fast-food restaurant five miles from her home. Employees reported seeing a young, blonde man with a backpack. They said he was walking through their drive-thru, knocking on windows and was carrying a knife.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office/Surveillance video
Det. Andrea Tozzi: They saw a subject walking through their drive-thru, knocking on windows, carrying a knife and it looked like it had blood on it.
Employees from the Taco Bell quickly called police.
OPERATOR: Do you have any description of him?
CALLER: Yeah, he was wearing um, you know, like those Army pants? And he had no shirt. … He’s White. With, like, really, like, bushy hair, but it was, like, long. Like the skater-type hair.
OPERATOR: How old was he?
CALLER: I don’t know. He looked like he was like 18.
Police rushed to the Taco Bell and started canvassing the nearby shopping center. They didn’t find their suspect, but they did find something else.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, there had been a BOLO put out on — on Donna’s vehicle.
Jim Axelrod: Be on the lookout.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Right. And … in the process of looking for this person here … they found the car.
While searching for the young man who had been spotted at the Taco Bell, police found Donna Ongsiako’s stolen vehicle. It had been ditched behind a movie theater, in the same shopping center as the fast-food restaurant. The lights of the vehicle were on, and it was still running.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Donna’s stolen car had been ditched behind a movie theater.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was lights on … and it was running. So, it clearly was an abandoned vehicle.
Tozzi says the car would become crucial.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was blood all over it. And so, we were hoping that we would get some kind of DNA evidence of our suspect.
Jim Axelrod: Did you?
Det.Andrea Tozzi: We did.
A SUSPECT EMERGES
Sharon Sharpe will never forget the dread she felt when she arrived at the hospital to see her friend Donna Ongsiako only to be told she wasn’t there.
Jim Axelrod: I’m picturing the color draining from your face and the air, leaving your lungs, like —
Sharon Sharpe: Totally … no, this cannot be. There’s no way, she has to be here.
Jim Axelrod: Did you think maybe she had died?
Sharon Sharpe: Yes. Yes.
It turned out, with her attacker still on the loose, the hospital had admitted Donna under an alias to protect her. Sharon was allowed to see Donna the next day.
Sharon Sharpe: An intensive care room I’ve never seen before. … It looked like an enlarged, massively enlarged cockpit wall because there were tons of machines behind her. And she looked almost like a puppet.
Donna Ongsiako: Surgery was seven hours, I believe.
Despite losing three quarters of the blood in her body, trauma surgeons had saved Donna’s life, but at a tremendous cost.
Donna Ongsiako: I pretty much looked like a living cadaver. … I had 37 stitches on my face and neck, 38 staples in my chest, seven stitches in my hand. And now internally, my sternum is wired shut.
“I lost in total close to three quarters of the blood in my body,” Donna Ongsiako told “48 Hours.” “There’s no earthly reason why I’m alive.”
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
And as for that final stab to Donna’s chest just before her assailant left —
Donna Ongsiako: It missed my heart by the edge of a dime is what I remember them telling me.
The edge of a dime.
Jim Axelrod: When she talks about the margin that the knife missed her heart by.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah … if she was any slouched over … anymore, that would have been it.
Kiersten says as soon as her mother was able to talk, she had one simple request.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I remember her saying, all I smell is this blood in my hair. Can somebody please wash my hair?
Sharon says they got permission, and then she and two of Donna’s family members did their best to wash Donna’s hair as she lay in her hospital bed.
Sharon Sharpe: We were determined to see if we could make her smile. So, we turned it into a ridiculous idiot session with three of us … like a factory line. … We laughed through our tears. … and any time … anybody would get too serious we would make it funny.
But her hair was far from Donna’s biggest concern. She was sure her attacker would find her and finish the job.
Sharon Sharpe: She was convinced that he was in the hospital. And we kept telling her, no, you’re here under an alias.
Donna Ongsiako: I survived. I stood face to face with him. I could 100 percent positively identify him. He’s coming back for me.
Detective Tozzi says they were pretty sure the young man knocking on windows at the Taco Bell drive-thru shortly after Donna’s attack was their suspect. Within two days, a customer who saw him met with a police sketch artist.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: And … was able to provide pretty great details on the person she saw that night.
Investigators then took the sketch to the hospital.
Jim Axelrod: What did Donna say when she saw that sketch?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She said, yeah, that was incredibly accurate. … She tweaked it a little bit. … She said that … yes, that looks like the person who stabbed me.
Donna Ongsiako: His … curly blonde hair. … He was like a surfer kid … or a skateboarder or something like that.
Within two days, a customer who saw the young man at the Taco Bell met with a police sketch artist. After making a few tweaks, Ongsiako said the sketch looked like the person who had stabbed her.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Former Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says the sketch of the suspect was soon plastered all over Monmouth County and on law enforcement social media.
Laurie Gerhardt: So, people are obviously talking and trying to figure out, do we know where is he from? Who is this kid?… And it’s scary because you like to have a sense of security in your community.
Investigators reviewed the cameras of stores in the shopping center near the Taco Bell to see if they’d get lucky and spot their suspect, hoping the more images they had, the more likely the chance of identifying him.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We were … trying to go back and look at video … from various businesses to see the description and … really to put out the BOLO like this is who we’re looking for.
Security cameras had captured the suspect once again.
Det.Andrea Tozzi: The surveillance we got from the store over there … was from the inside the store, but it was pointing outwards.
Investigators reviewed the cameras of stores in the shopping center near the Taco Bell to see if they’d get lucky and spot their suspect. Their suspect was caught again on security footage, this time walking outside a Verizon store.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Jim Axelrod: I see. And it definitely caught him.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Oh, yeah. You could see him walking.
Jim Axelrod: Wow.
As police kept looking for the suspect, Donna Ongsiako was turning a corner, at least physically. Amazingly, after just four days, Donna was released from the hospital. Sharon says that was all due to the training Donna had done prior to the attack.
Sharon Sharpe: Clearly, she’s very physically fit. … She wouldn’t have survived this if she wasn’t.
Jim Axelrod: It’s an amazing thing. You were out in four days. But as you leave the hospital, you are also walking back into a world where whoever did this to you is still out there.
Donna Ongsiako: Right. But also … I wasn’t going back to the farm. I wasn’t going back to my house. No, there was no way.
In fact, Donna would never step foot in her house again. She and Kiersten moved in with family living in New Jersey. Then, just eight days after the attack, not long after the police sketch began circulating, Detective Tozzi’s phone rang.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I take the call and the woman on the other end … says that she’s calling about the stabbing in Colts Neck. I said, “OK.” I said … “How can I help you?” And she said, “I … think … my cousin Brennan Doyle may have something to do with that.”
It was the first time Tozzi had heard the name Brennan Doyle. He was just 16. His cousin told Tozzi word was going around her family that Brennan was involved in the Colts Neck stabbing. The cousin had seen Brennan just days prior to Donna’s attack.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Between July 3rd and 6th, because he was up in Connecticut for her wedding with his family.
Jim Axelrod: He had attended her wedding?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He attended her wedding, and she was able to provide us a picture of what he looked like during the time he was up there for the wedding.
Laurie Gerhardt: The photo she sends is Brennan with long, curly hair, wearing camouflage shorts. Looking very much like the kid in the sketch and more importantly on the videotapes.
Brennan’s resemblance to the sketch all around town was about to become even more important because of what the cousin told Detective Tozzi happened a few days later.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was staying at … Brennan’s family’s lake house in New Hampshire as a wedding gift. And Brennan, his brother and the mother showed up there unexpected.
Jim Axelrod: Hang on. This woman is in Lake Winnipesaukee. She’s on her honeymoon?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
Jim Axelrod: And all of a sudden there’s Brennan, Brennan’s mother, Brennan’s brother, crashing her honeymoon?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. And the dog.
But what was even more surprising was Brennan’s appearance.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Brennan’s hair was cut.
Jim Axelrod: The next time she sees him, he’s cut his hair?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
Jim Axelrod: So that’s a big red flag.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
AN UNLIKELY SUSPECT
Brennan Doyle’s cousin told investigators that Brennan showed up just days after Donna’s attack, hundreds of miles from home, with his hair suddenly cut short. Like Donna, the Doyle family resided in Colts Neck.
Laurie Gerhardt | Former Assistant Prosecutor: They lived in a very nice house, two sons, a mom and a dad. … The life of a typical Colts Neck’s teenager. It’s a life of wealth. It’s a life of privilege.
Brennan was a student athlete on wrestling and hockey teams. Detective Tozzi started digging into his background.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He had never been arrested. … There was never any charges filed against him prior to … our … investigation.
According to the prosecutor’s records, police had been called to the Doyle house for what they refer to as “family conflicts.” The location of the home would turn out to be very important.
Jim Axelrod: Where did Brennan live?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, if you make a right up here, um, and you go up maybe a quarter of a mile, uh, on the left.
Jim Axelrod: So, that’s close.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yeah.
The teen and his family lived within walking distance of Donna’s house — up the very road that driver had reported seeing someone she described as a young hitchhiker just prior to Donna’s attack.
Jim Axelrod: When does the Doyle family return to Colts Neck?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Later in July.
With Brennan and his family back in town, Tozzi reached out to the family, saying investigators were canvassing the neighborhood.
Jim Axelrod: What happened when you went to the house?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We spoke with Mrs. Doyle. … She was … nervous. … Her voice was cracking.
Jim Axelrod: Did this raise an eyebrow for you?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It did.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We asked if Brennan and his brother could come and look at the composite sketch … if they had any idea who that person might be on the sketch.
Jim Axelrod: Did Brennan come out?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He did.
Tozzi says she wanted to see Brennan’s hair to confirm what his cousin had told her: that it had been cut much shorter. It seemed the teen tried to stay a step ahead when he came out to greet the detective.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He was wearing a hat. He was wearing a baseball hat.
Laurie Gerhardt: I think wearing a baseball cap … was a calculated move.
It might have been, but it didn’t work.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: You could tell his hair was cut short.
Next, Tozzi showed Brennan the police sketch of the suspect — the same one Donna helped tweak to look just like her attacker.
Jim Axelrod: How did he react?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He … looked away. He looked at it, looked away. And said,” “I don’t know. I don’t know.” … He was nervous, and he was scared. … And he got very quiet.
Matt Troiano: There is a reaction. Eyes are down. … No eye contact. People are nervous. Mom starts redirecting the conversation.
Brennan Doyle’s family and his attorney denied “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. We asked Matt Troiano, a defense attorney and CBS News consultant, to study the case file.
Matt Troiano: And I think that that probably confirms what they believe going in.
Brennan’s odd behavior and resemblance to the sketch and video evidence may have been striking, but with nothing else to go on yet, Tozzi thanked the Doyles for their time and left.
Jim Axelrod: Did you know that was your guy?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I was pretty confident … that we were on the right track with him. But we also have a duty … we had other leads that were coming in. … So, we were doing a lot of … follow ups.
As investigators worked the case, Donna was struggling. Weeks after the attack, the reality of what had happened to her had taken hold.
Donna Ongsiako: I lost everything that night. I lost my home, had nowhere to go. I lost my car. They took it into evidence.
Jim Axelrod: Donna, you lost more than half your blood.
Donna Ongsiako: Exactly. I lost — I lost a lot.
Donna says that’s when, in addition to her physical recovery, she faced a new challenge.
Donna Ongsiako: Symptoms of PTSD started to show up. … I’m not eating. I’m not sleeping. I don’t care about anything. I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m happy. You know, every emotion under the sun at any minute.
Donna Ongsiako: I felt like I was going crazy. … I was … always thinking … “I don’t know who this kid is, but he climbed through the window in that second that I fell asleep and now he’s hiding in the closet.” You know, kind of crazy thoughts.
Sharon Sharpe says Donna’s fear meant even friendly visits required a new protocol. –including announcing her arrival every step of the way so as not to trigger Donna.
Sharon Sharpe: “I’m going to come around the hedges now and I’m going to enter the backyard. I’m going to be touching the gate in three, two, one.” … I would shake my keys first, which had bells on them … Say, “It’s me, Sharon. I’m coming.”
The investigation lasted through the summer of 2013. Brennan Doyle remained the only likely suspect. Detective Tozzi says investigators took the next step in September.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We got a warrant to obtain his DNA … his fingerprints, photographs of him, just things that are personal to him.
When the results came back —
Matt Troiano: There’s a fingerprint match, then ultimately there’s a DNA match.
Brennan Doyle’s DNA was a spot-on match to unknown DNA found in Donna’s car — in a number of places.
Matt Troiano: Eleven different DNA samples and pieces of evidence found in that vehicle. And really, there’s no reason why Brennan Doyle’s DNA should be in this woman’s vehicle. … He’s a stranger to her.
One more crucial piece of evidence was found in early October in the most unexpected spot.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Repairmen were servicing an air conditioning unit that was on the top of the strip mall. … They found the knife … on the roof right near the air conditioning unit.
In early October, police got a call that a knife had been found on the roof of a bowling alley in the same strip mall where Donna Ongsiako’s car had been ditched. Repairmen were servicing an air conditioning unit when they found it.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
A knife, looking weathered, as though it had been there for months was found on a bowling alley roof in the very same shopping center where the Taco Bell was located and where Donna’s car had been abandoned.
Jim Axelrod: How important was the knife?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It ended up being very important because … the knife was from a set. … We determined that that knife matched another knife that we knew came from the Doyle household that had been taken months earlier.
Through a twist of timing and fate, the Colts Neck police already had another knife from the Doyle home, taken after police were called to the house a few weeks prior to Donna’s attack, following an altercation between Brennan and his brother.
Matt Troiano: There’s a knife that’s apparently used by the younger brother … in a threatening manner. Police are called. Police take the knife… and the situation ends.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was no charges or anything that came of it, but … they secured the knife in their evidence vault. … It was the same … brand name, the same look. … It was a silver knife.
Jim Axelrod: It was from the same collection.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Correct.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: That was kind of the icing on the cake to get … a search warrant. … They had moved during the course of this investigation. So, we got a search warrant for their new home.
The search of the new Doyle residence, also in Colts Neck, turned up the rest of the knife set matching the one found atop the shopping center. In late October 2013, Brennan Doyle was arrested.
Jim Axelrod: What kinds of charges was he facing?
Matt Troiano: Serious ones. Attempted murder, carjacking, weapons possession. These are the most serious of crimes that we have.
THE STRENGTH TO MOVE FORWARD
Months after Donna’s brush with death, her alleged attacker Brennan Doyle was in custody, facing six counts including attempted murder and carjacking. He pleaded not guilty.
Laurie Gerhardt: You have to look at the seriousness of the offense.
Brennan Doyle
NJ Department of Corrections
The prosecution felt the crime warranted trying Brennan as an adult — even though he was 16 at the time.
Laurie Gerhardt: in juvenile court, Brennan is looking at four years maximum in … a youth detention facility … In adult court … he’s looking at up to 30 years.
A judge would rule in Assistant Prosecutor Gerhardt’s favor, but there was a catch. Brennan would now be entitled to post bail, set at $760,000, which he did.
Jim Axelrod: When you heard he was out, did all of the fear come rushing back?
Donna Ongsiako: It wasn’t so much fear as it was anger that he was even allowed to be bailed out.
The thought of running into Brennan terrified Kiersten. She says he even haunted her dreams.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me … I had no idea until I was, like, falling asleep. And all I see is his face.
As prosecutors developed their case, the details of what happened that horrific night began to emerge.
Jim Axelrod: What does Brennan Doyle say happened the night of July 6th, heading into the morning of July 7th, 2013?
According to investigative reports he examined, Matt Troiano says that on the night of Donna’s attack, Doyle claimed he was losing touch with reality and had gotten into a fight with his father.
Matt Troiano: He has a knife in his hand. … Dad kicks him out. … And … he kind of loses his mind, makes bad decisions.
Police thought it likely that Brennan, who lived a short distance away, approached Donna’s home looking to steal her car.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I don’t know if his intent was to kill Donna. … certainly, when he started stabbing her, that became his intent.
Laurie Gerhardt: To me, what he’s doing is he’s getting rid of the witness.
Gerhardt believes Brennan did not act like someone incapacitated by drugs. Brennan drove five miles to that shopping center after leaving Donna’s house.
Laurie Gerhardt: This kid … manages to ditch a knife … He abandons the car … That’s not a kid who’s so high on mushrooms, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Troiano says while a lot of the evidence against Brennan Doyle was strong — the knife, the security camera videos — one thing put this case over the top.
Matt Troiano: What is going to seal the fate of this boy, this kid, is that there’s DNA in her vehicle that links to him. … It’s indefensible.
But as it turned out, there would be no need for a defense. In August 2015, Brennan Doyle agreed to a plea deal. In return, the prosecution dropped all but the two most serious charges — carjacking and attempted murder.
Donna Ongsiako: It was very important for me that he admit his guilt … If he took the plea, he would have to confess his guilt to the court.
In October 2015, Brennan Doyle, now 18 years old, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court for sentencing. Donna, who’d attended every court appearance, was there to face him one last time.
Donna Ongsiako: Even though I felt overpowered by fear … I wanted him to see me as strong and as a survivor.
It was an emotional day for Kiersten, there to support her mother.
Jim Axelrod: When you would look at him in court? What do you remember feeling?
Kiersten Ongsiako: Anger. Very angry. Sorry (cries).
Brennan was permitted to address the court.
BRENNAN DOYLE (in court): The drugs turned me into a monster that night. … I pray and hope her wounds will lessen, and she will recover eventually. I am asking you to forgive me.
BRENNAN DOYLE (in court): Going to prison will be the hardest thing I will ever have to face in my life and I’m afraid.
“Brennan Doyle later sent “48 Hours” this statement:
“The only thing I can say is an apology to the victim. My actions have altered her life cruelly. She should never have had to take on the pain and suffering I inflicted. She did not deserve what happened to her, and it was entirely my fault. All I can do is wake up each day guided by my unforgiveable actions, and act with the dignity my 16 year old self did not possess. I am sorry for everything.”
Brennan Doyle was sentenced to 15 years in state prison. The law requires him to serve at least 85 percent of that time.
Laurie Gerhardt: Justice has to be done on both sides, and we have to be sensitive to that. We have a 16-year-old kid who for the most part had absolutely no prior history. … The court has a balancing act to do.
Jim Axelrod: Did it feel like justice?
Donna Ongsiako: It did not.
Jim Axelrod: What would have felt like justice to you?
Donna Ongsiako: More like 30 years. 40 years. 50 years. If not longer.
Donna Ongsiako, pictured at right, had found PTSD and domestic violence support groups, but says there were none for victims of random attacks. So, in 2015, she decided to create her own: Survivors of Violent Crimes.
Dana Richards
Even with Brennan off the streets, Donna was still struggling. She had found PTSD and domestic violence support groups but says there were none for victims of random attacks. So, in 2015, she decided to create her own: Survivors of Violent Crimes.
Tiffany Ott: [The] reason … we took to the support group … was … to help each other cope.
Donna connected with fellow survivors Tiffany Ott and Dana Richards. Together they held meetings and felt gratified they could help when more survivors joined.
Dana Richards: They’re finding relief in knowing that they’re not alone.
But Donna says her work isn’t done. Her future plans include helping victims connect with trauma therapists and offering self-defense classes.
As she grows her support group, she’s also educating others. She travels to prisons, meeting with inmates and addresses police cadets so they can understand the victim’s point of view.
DONNA ONGSIAKO (speaking to police cadets in 2019): I got up and made it up the stairs to my bedroom where my cellphone was … but I got through to 911.
Sharon Sharpe: She survives. And she’s building a life. … How could anyone not applaud that?
Donna Ongsiako says the physical scars that remain are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life. “This is artwork, their beautiful artwork.”
CBS News
Donna says the physical scars that remain are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life.
Donna Ongsiako: You could either get sucked into the darkness … or you just keep going. … I did what I had to do to — to be here today … and go another day.
Donna Ongsiako filed a civil suit against Brennan Doyle and his father. She was awarded $5 million. She has yet to receive payment.
Brennan Doyle will be eligible for parole in 2027. He will be 30 years old.
Produced by Susan Mallie and Kat Teurfs. Marcus Balsam, Michelle Harris and Jud Johnston are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
Jim Axelrod is the chief investigative correspondent and senior national correspondent for CBS News, reporting for “CBS This Morning,” “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and other CBS News broadcasts.
Donna Ongsiako was getting ready to go to bed in her farmhouse in Colts Neck, New Jersey, when an intruder broke into her home and stabbed her repeatedly. Miraculously, she survived. She sat down with “48 Hours” to discuss her extremely difficult recovery.
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A New Jersey school district is facing a civil rights complaint from the state’s attorney general after board of education representatives voted to instate a “parental notification” policy that the state says could target LGBTQ+ students.
The policy, referred to as board policy 8463 or “Parental Notification of Material Circumstances” in a letter from Hanover Township Public Schools, was voted on in a board meeting on Tuesday. Six of the nine board members were in attendance; four members voted to enact the policy. There were only two public comments, one against the policy and one in support of it, before the vote.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced in a news release that he was filing a Division of Civil Rights complaint seeking to block the policy, saying the requirements to notify parents about a student’s sexuality or gender identity were discriminatory and in violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. The attorney general and the Division on Civil Rights also filed an emergency court motion requesting a preliminary injunction and temporary restraints to stop the policy from going into effect while the challenge remains pending.
In the district’s letter, sent on Wednesday, the Board of Education addressed the challenge, saying the attorney general was “incorrectly” interpreting the policy and calling his comments about LGBTQ+ students “erroneous assertions.”
CBS2
“Policy 8463 does not unlawfully discriminate against any student on the basis of protected status whatsoever,” the letter read. “Rather, a simple reading of Policy 8463 reveals that it requires school staff members to notify appropriate school administrators and a student’s parents whenever the staff member is made aware of any facts or circumstances that may have a material impact on the student’s physical and/or mental health and/or social/emotional well-being.”
Those issues, the letter said, can include substance use, peer pressures, school performance, eating disorders, anti-social behaviors, pornography or “preoccupation with anti-social music,” along with numerous other issues. The letter does include “sexual activity; sexuality; sexual orientation; transitioning; (and) gender identity or expression” as things that parents would need to be notified about.
In the news release, the state attorney general’s office clarified that there is no challenge against parts of the policy that they say do not violate the Law Against Discrimination, such as requirements of parental notification related to substance use, alcohol use, firearms or unlawful activity.
“In New Jersey, we will always work tirelessly to protect our LGBTQ+ youth from discrimination,” Platkin said on Twitter. “That’s why we’re challenging the Hanover Township Board of Education’s new policy requiring staff to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents.”
New Jersey governor Phil Murphy retweeted Platkin’s comment and said that he supported the challenge.
“Hanover Township Board of Education’s new policy requiring staff to “out” LGBTQ students to their parents violates the rights of our students — jeopardizing their well-being and mental health,” Murphy wrote.
Hanover Township Board of Education’s new policy requiring staff to “out” LGBTQ students to their parents violates the rights of our students — jeopardizing their well-being and mental health.
Some state leaders have praised the policy, with state senator Joe Pennacchio writing on Twitter that the board “should be applauded for making a real effort to ensure that parents are informed of anything that could impact the mental or physical well-being of their children.”
State senator Edward Durr said the district was “absolutely right to try to ensure parents are made aware of any of the dozens of concerns identified by the new policy that could impact the well-being of THEIR children.”
“Parents should never be forced out!” he added.
The American Civil Liberties Union’s New Jersey branch has also commented on the challenge, criticizing the policy and saying that informing a student’s parents of their sexual orientation or gender identity without consent “not only invades their privacy, but can open an LGBTQ+ student to depression, bullying, suicide, violence or even abandonment by families.”
“Enacting a policy that has teachers policing their schools to out LGBTQ+ students is a disconcerting return to tactics used to criminalize sexual orientation and gender identity,” the ACLU said. “It targets students based on their LGBTQ+ status and cannot stand.”
The challenge comes amid a rise in legislation that advocates say targets the LGBTQ+ community. Several states have banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and according to PEN America, 41% of the 1,648 unique book titles banned between July 2021 and June 2022 involved LGBTQ+ characters.
A woman outwits a young stranger who attacked her in her own home. What will it take to find him? “48 Hours” contributor Jim Axelrod reports Saturday, May 13 at 10/9c on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Secret Service said Monday it blocked a Muslim mayor from Prospect Park, New Jersey, from attending a White House celebration with President Joe Biden to belatedly mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Shortly before he was set to arrive at the White House for the Eid-al-Fitr celebration, Mayor Mohamed Khairullah said he received a call from the White House stating that he had not been cleared for entry by the Secret Service and could not attend the celebration where Biden delivered remarks to hundreds of guests. He said the White House official did not explain why the Secret Service had blocked his entry.
Khairullah, 47, informed the New Jersey chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations after he was told he would not be allowed to attend the event.
The group has called on the Biden administration to cease the FBI’s dissemination of information from what is known as a Terrorist Screening Data Set that includes hundreds of thousands of individuals. The group informed Khairullah that a person with his name and birthdate was in a dataset that CAIR attorneys obtained in 2019.
Khairullah was an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s travel ban that limited entry to the U.S. of citizens from several predominantly Muslim countries. He also has travelled to Bangladesh and Syria to do humanitarian work with the Syrian American Medical Society and the Watan Foundation.
“It left me baffled, shocked and disappointed,” Khairullah said in a telephone interview as he made his way home to New Jersey on Monday evening. “It’s not a matter of I didn’t get to go to a party. It’s why I did not go. And it’s a list that has targeted me because of my identity. And I don’t think the highest office in the United States should be down with such profiling.”
U.S. Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed that Khairullah was not allowed into the White House complex, but declined to detail why. Khairullah was elected to a fifth term as the borough’s mayor in January.
“While we regret any inconvenience this may have caused, the mayor was not allowed to enter the White House complex this evening,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “Unfortunately we are not able to comment further on the specific protective means and methods used to conduct our security operations at the White House.”
The White House declined to comment.
Selaedin Maksut, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of CAIR, called the move “wholly unacceptable and insulting.”
“If these such incidents are happening to high-profile and well-respected American-Muslim figures like Mayor Khairullah, this then begs the question: what is happening to Muslims who do not have the access and visibility that the mayor has?” Maksut said.
Khairullah said he was stopped by authorities in 2019 and interrogated at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for three hours and questioned about whether he knew any terrorists. The incident happened when he was returning to the United States after a family visit to Turkey where his wife has family.
On another occasion, he said he was briefly held at the U.S.-Canada border as he traveled back into the country with family.
The group said Khairullah helped the New Jersey Democratic Party compile names of local Muslim leadership to invite to the White House Eid celebration and over the weekend was a guest at an event at the New Jersey governor’s mansion.
Khairullah was born in Syria, but his family was displaced in the midst of the government crackdowns by Hafez al-Assad’s government in the early 1980s. His family fled to Saudi Arabia before moving to Prospect Park in 1991. He has lived there since.
He became a U.S. citizen in 2000 and was elected to his first term as the town’s mayor in 2001. He also spent 14 years as a volunteer firefighter in his community.
Khairullah said he made seven trips to Syria with humanitarian aid organizations between 2012 and 2015 as a civil war ravaged much of the country.
“I am Syrian and you know it was very difficult to see what we saw on TV and and social media, and not respond to help people,” he said. “I mean we felt very helpless.”
Residents and business owners in parts of Monmouth County, New Jersey, have been warned of potentially hazardous materials at a nearby former industrial site after firefighters found leaking containers and materials on fire at the location.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has started overseeing the sampling and removal of around 200 to 300 chemical drums and containers found at the former manufacturing facility in Howell Township, it said in an April community update. It is not yet clear what type of chemicals the drums and containers hold, the EPA said.
EPA spokesperson Stephen McBay told CNN Sunday there is “no immediate need for evacuations” as the agency actively conducts cleanup at the site.
The cleanup comes after a local fire department discovered materials burning inside an old metal structure at the site on February 9, the EPA said. Firefighters found numerous drums and smelled a chemical odor before putting out the fire and called in other agencies for support in addressing potentially hazardous materials.
In March, the EPA said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection assessed the site and found roughly “200 to 300 55-gallon drums and containers, many of which were either bulging, rusting, denting, or leaking.”
The department then asked for assistance from the EPA, which said it found “breaches in the front fence of the property and no fence securing any other side of the property.” The EPA also observed containers that were leaking and labeled as hazardous materials, it said.
The site is the former location of Compounders Inc., which manufactured chemical compounds, including glues, adhesives, and asphalt materials, according to the EPA. Compounders operated until 2019. The current owner – who has not been publicly identified – purchased the business in 2021.
When asked by CNN if criminal charges are pending over the disposal of potentially hazardous material at the site, the EPA’s McBay said the agency “does not provide information on ongoing or potentially ongoing enforcement actions.”
Resident and business owners within a mile of the site were sent a letter on March 30 from the Howell Township Office of Emergency Management, warning of potential hazardous materials at the site. In addition to the large number of drums found, the letter said authorities also found “spilled materials on the ground and open drums, as well as solid waste.”
Residents at a community meeting on March 21 were told the evacuation plan was created “out of an abundance of caution.”
There are at least three schools and two child care centers in the area, according to an April community update.
The letter from the township’s Office of Emergency Management added, “We estimate the risk of a release of any potential hazardous material to be very low. After all drums are removed from the property, an investigation will be ongoing with the State NJDEP and EPA to determine what, if any, impacts have occurred to groundwater, soil or surface water.”
The EPA has placed 24/7 security on the property and said it has installed a perimeter fence “to ensure there is no illegal trespassing on or around the site.”
But a new wave of GOP White House hopefuls will begin entering the 2024 race as soon as this coming week after a monthslong lull. They include former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who will formally launch his campaign Wednesday.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he will finalize his plans in “weeks, not months.” He has kept a busy schedule of early state visits and policy speeches as aides have discussed details of an announcement including dates as early as May, but more likely in June. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who has formed a presidential exploratory committee, is expected to join the race in a similar time frame.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been meeting with former aides and he returned to New Hampshire this past week, where he said at a town hall in the first-in-the-nation primary state, “Tonight is the beginning of the case against Donald Trump.” Christie has said he will make a decision “in the next couple of weeks.”
The contenders will enter the race at a critical moment as DeSantis, who hasn’t officially announced a campaign, has struggled to live up to sky-high expectations among some early backers. He has been losing support among elected Republicans in his own state to Trump and is prompting concern among some in the party that his positions on abortion and LGBTQ rights, among other issues, could render him unelectable in a general election.
Trump in recent weeks has solidified his status as the early front-runner, even after he was indicted in New York. He remains the subject of intensifying investigations in Atlanta and Washington and persistent concerns about his electability after losing to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
Would-be rivals hope that dynamic leaves an opening for one of the fresh entrants to emerge as an alternative to the current polling leaders. Some strategists hope Trump and DeSantis will attack one another so viciously that they will turn off voters, who will search for an alternative.
“It’s not uncommon for a third candidate who’s not involved in the kerfuffle to rise,” said Bryan Lanza, a former Trump adviser, who has been informally advising Larry Elder, the conservative talk radio host who announced his campaign Thursday.
Lanza said he expects a robust race to be the “leader of the second tier” of candidates currently polling at under 10%.
Beyond Trump and Elder, the current field of official GOP presidential candidates includes Trump’s U.N. ambassador, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Both announced their bids in February.
Biden is expected to announce his 2024 campaign as soon as this coming week. He faces minimal competition for the Democratic nomination.
Among Republicans, the early debates that are slated to begin this summer could be crucial in determining who builds momentum, particularly given DeSantis’ expectations.
That means candidates may need to cement their planning soon, even if they would prefer to wait longer. The Republican National Committee has scheduled the first debate for August and is expected to set strict benchmarks that candidates must satisfy to participate, including amassing tens of thousands of individual donors.
“That takes a little time to do and so if you’re gong to be serious about this — and I think you have to be on the stage to be serious about it — then you probably have to make the decision by May,” Christie said this past week during an interview with the media outlet Semafor.
Candidates-in-waiting have seen little reason to jump in sooner, particularly given Trump’s propensity to attack. Instead, they have been biding their time, visiting early voting states, delivering speeches and wooing donors as they assess the field. Pence, for instance, was in California this past week meeting with potential backers and will host another donor retreat for his nonprofit group in late May.
“If I was in their shoes, I would wait as long as possible,” said former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was considered an early favorite for the Republican nomination when he ran against Trump in 2016. He remembers realizing, in those early weeks, how dramatically Trump had upended the race, dominating everything.
“There was no way around it then,” he said. “And right now, anybody who thinks they’re somehow going to go in and change that is missing the reality.”
The rivalry between Trump and DeSantis has been turning uglier by the day, with political groups supporting both men already spending millions on attack ads.
While DeSantis has largely ignored Trump’s jabs questioning his commitment to Social Security, his relationship with young girls as a teacher decades ago and even his sexuality, a pro-DeSantis super political action committee, Never Back Down, began to respond in its first round of paid ads last weekend.
“Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Gov. DeSantis,” the narrator says in an ad that ran on Fox News. “What happened to Donald Trump?”
The spot ran in conjunction with an online ad, which described Trump as “a coward” and a “gun grabber,” that was aimed at those attending an RNC donor retreat in Indiana.
Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., has been airing its spots on cable news channels highlighting DeSantis’ votes to cut Social Security and Medicare and raise the retirement age.
“The more you learn about DeSantis, the more you see he doesn’t share our values. He’s just not ready to be president,” said the narrator in one. Another, seizing on a report that DeSantis once ate pudding with his fingers, urged the governor “to keep his pudding fingers off our money.”
Trump and his campaign have long seen DeSantis as his only serious challenger and believed the more crowded the field, the better for Trump, as candidates split the anti-Trump vote. But a repeat of 2016′s massive field hasn’t materialized, with potential candidates such as former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan passing on campaigns.
There are still plenty of unknown dynamics, including whether governors such as Kristi Noem of South Dakota or Chris Sununu of New Hampshire will enter the contest. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin have not explicitly ruled out running.
Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist and longtime Christie adviser, believes that Trump is the favorite but nonetheless beatable. He cautioned that races are complicated, with unexpected outcomes.
“I do think that DeSantis is right now firmly the alternative to Trump, but I don’t know if it stays that way. There’s still way too long to go,” he said, arguing that a debate moment or news story could change the trajectory.
“Somebody’s just got to get momentum,” he said. “It’s just so wide open even with Trump being the prohibitive favorite.”
___
Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in New York and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
A well-known Japanese trend is taking root in the United States. The popular fusion blends Japanese and Italian flavors for a unique and tasty experience. Nancy Chen has more from Pasta Ramen in New Jersey.
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Curaleaf, one of the nation’s largest cannabis companies, has lost the right to sell recreational marijuana at two local dispensaries in New Jersey.
The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission’s Board denied Curaleaf’s license renewals after the company announced a staff reduction.
This means the company’s Bellmawr and Edgewater Park locations will have to stop selling recreational marijuana.
Curaleaf believes the board denied its adult use licenses due to its decision to consolidate its production into one local facility, stated the company in a statement.
The company said the board is acting out of political retaliation for something that there is no regulation for.
“To be clear: Curaleaf is in good standing with the CRC and has fulfilled the requirements necessary for the renewal of our licenses,” Curaleaf said.
The company went on to say how this decision will negatively impact the cannabis industry in the state and its employees.
Curaleaf said it remains open and will continue working with the CRC board to ensure its licenses are renewed.
Rutgers University and union representatives have announced an agreement on a framework for new contracts with several faculty unions, allowing a halt to a five-day strike that was the first such job action in the 257-year history of New Jersey’s flagship university,
Rutgers said early Saturday that the agreement on the framework on economic issues was reached late Friday night with the aid of Gov. Phil Murphy, and closure on that framework “will allow our 67,000 students to resume their studies and pursue their academic degrees.”
“Nothing we do is as important as living up to the expectations that our students and their families have of us to be fully supportive of them and nurturing of their academic ambitions and dreams,” the school said in a statement.
The unions representing professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers told members that they had agreed to suspend the strike and return to work, but more issues need to be resolved before members would have a tentative agreement to vote on.
“Our historic strike got us to this point. And let us be clear, a suspension of our strike is not a cancellation. If we do not secure the gains we need on the open issues through bargaining in the coming days, we can and will resume our work stoppage,” they said, also vowing informational pickets as classes resume next week.
Strikers march in front of Rutgers’ buildings in New Brunswick, N.J., Monday, April 10, 2023. Thousands of professors, part-time lecturers and graduate student workers at New Jersey’s flagship university have gone on strike — the first such job action in the school’s 257-year history.
Seth Wenig / AP
Three unions, which represent about 9,000 Rutgers staff members, have been involved in the strike: the Rutgers AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdoctoral associates and some counselors; the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents part-time lecturers; and the AAUP-BHSNJ, which includes faculty in the biomedical and health sciences at Rutgers’ medical, dental, nursing and public health schools.
The unions said the framework included “significant” pay increases for adjuncts and substantial raises for graduate student workers, as well as more job security for adjunct and nontenure-track faculty, union representation for graduate fellows, and other improvements.
Rutgers said the pact, retroactive to July, will increase salaries across the board for full-time faculty and EOF counselors by at least 14 percent by July 2025. It will also provide a 43.8 percent increase in the per-credit salary rate for part-time lecturers and strengthen their job security, increase minimum salaries for postdoctoral fellows and associates and substantially increase wages and other support for teaching assistants and graduate assistants.
Picket lines went up Monday at the New Brunswick, Piscataway, Newark and Camden campuses as students were finishing their spring semester and preparing for finals and commencement. NJ.com reports that some said they went to classes as usual because some professors were still teaching or handing out assignments, while others said classes were called off or they decided to stay away or even walk picket lines in support of the walkout.
The wildfire in New Jersey that has burned nearly 4,000 acres in is 75% contained are to reopen, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service tweeted Wednesday night.
The blaze that began in Manchester Township on Tuesday evening has burned 3,859 acres, authorities said, and all of the previously announced road closures in the area were to be lifted at 9 p.m.
The service said its personnel will continue to work in several locations and urged residents to “stay vigilant while driving through smoke conditions,” because firefighters may be working on the side of the road.
The fire remains under investigation, the forest service added.
The fire came as record heat sets in across the Northeast.
This single fire has burned more than half the average acres burned in New Jersey in an entire year, according to statistics from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
About 170 structures in the Manchester Township area were evacuated Tuesday night, but all residents have since been allowed to return home, Manchester Police Chief Robert Dolansaid during a news conference Wednesday.
No structures are damaged and no injuries have been reported, officials said, but firefighters have faced “extreme fire behavior,” said John Cecil, the assistant commissioner of state parks, forests and historic sites at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
“We saw a wall of fire, 200-foot flames, raining fire embers. I don’t mean to be dramatic, but this was a severe situation that these guys and gals managed to keep in place and protect lives and property. And for that, we cannot thank them enough,” Cecil said.
The fire was primarily burning on federal, state and private property in Manchester Township, but it had jumped to the adjacent borough of Lakehurst.
Summerlike temperatures are expected to last through Friday, with more than 25 potential high records falling.
“We’ve been under high pressure the past couple of days. This is drying out the ‘fuels’ (dry brushland, dead leaves etc.). We should stay under high pressure for the next day,” Cameron Wunderlin, National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly, New Jersey, told CNN. “Relative humidity drops very low with this flow around the high and all the ingredients are there for the fire weather concerns.”
The record heat will only make fire conditions worse during the week, as temperatures soar into the mid-80s across New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast along the I-95 corridor.
Overnight temperatures will also remain high, which will create challenging conditions for firefighters. Nighttime temperatures will only drop to the low 60s or upper 50s, which won’t allow for much recovery overnight.
“Relative humidity is calculated by temperature and the amount of moisture,” Wunderlin said. “So if you have record highs and low humidity, the relative humidity will drop below the 30% threshold that we look for extreme fire behavior.”
Places like New York City, New Brunswick,New Jersey, and even Philadelphia could break records Friday with temperatures expected to top out in the mid-80s.
Springfield, Massachusetts, could shatter its previous record of 77 by nearly 10 degrees if it hits the forecast high of 86 on Friday.
Winds will remain a factor as sustained winds are expected to stay around 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
April is considered peak fire season for New Jersey. The state has seen other large fires in recent years, including one just last year that scored more than 13,000 acres. The fire in 2022 was roughly 50 miles from where the current fire is burning.
MANCHESTER, N.J. (AP) — The 200-foot wall of flames, the burning embers landing miles away and the carloads of evacuees fleeing to shelter at a high school — it all took place in New Jersey but could happen in almost every part of the country this week due to dry conditions and strong winds that have raised the danger of forest fires.
As firefighters worked Wednesday to contain a fire that tore through 6 square miles (15 square kilometers) of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, the National Weather Service issued so-called “red flag warnings” on Wednesday for 20 states spanning the nation. The agency cautioned that dry, windy conditions similar to those in New Jersey were increasing the danger of forest fires elsewhere, too.
The blaze in Manchester, near Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, forced the evacuation of around 170 homes late Tuesday, with police and fire officials going door-to-door to ask people to take temporary shelter at a nearby high school. Helicopters were filling large containers with water from a nearby lake Wednesday and dropping it on the flames.
No one was injured and no homes were damaged, although firefighters said 20 structures were still considered threatened Wednesday afternoon, by which time the fire had been 60% contained.
“We saw the red glow in the sky, and every time the wind would shift, it got worse,” said Jason Cylenica, who lives in the neighborhood closest to the fire. His wife, Cynthia Tiemper, said burning embers were landing in their back yard Tuesday night, making them decide to evacuate even before the fire department knocked on their door at 10:45 p.m.
“We left so fast I didn’t even bring socks,” she said. “It was like, ‘You grab the dog, I’ll grab this and let’s go.’ When we got back here this morning and saw that everything was still here, it was like prayers had been answered.”
Although the state is not in a drought, there’s no chance of rain until the weekend in the part of New Jersey where the fire is burning. The state on Wednesday banned campfires and imposed restrictions on charcoal or gas fires.
April is the peak month for forest fires in New Jersey, officials said. And despite its status as the nation’s most densely populated state, 40% of it is forest. There are about 1,500 wildfires a year in New Jersey, according to the state Forest Fire Service.
Forest fires are a common occurrence in the Pine Barrens, a 1.1 million-acre state and federally protected reserve about halfway between Philadelphia to the west and the Atlantic coast to the east. On Wednesday afternoon, the Forest Fire Service was responding to another blaze in West Milford in the northwest potion of the state near Route 23, but estimates of the size of that fire were not immediately available.
“This fire exhibited extreme fire behavior,” John Cecil, an assistant commissioner in the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, said of the Pine Barrens blaze. “I don’t mean to be dramatic, but this was a severe situation that these guys and gals managed to keep in a place and protect lives and property from that.”
About 75 firefighters, two helicopters, bulldozers and 15 fire engines were being used to battle the flames.
Greg McLaughlin, the Forest Fire Service chief, said the blaze began on the grounds of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a military facility spanning several municipalities at about 4 p.m. Tuesday. Military personnel tried to extinguish it, but winds soon spread the fire beyond the base’s perimeter and across a busy highway, Route 539, necessitating a large response from numerous municipalities in the region.
A cause of the fire wasn’t given, but authorities said they’re investigating.
In the parking lot of a firehouse miles away from the fire scene, McLaughlin held up a plastic bag filled with small pieces of charred wood — dead embers that had flown through the air over two miles away and threatened to start new fires.
Last month, a wildfire in the Pine Barrens threatened over a dozen homes in Little Egg Harbor, not far from the site of a massive forest fire in 2007 at an Air National Guard target range. That fire burned nearly 27 square miles (70 square kilometers).
Fire is an essential element of the Pine Barrens ecosystem; many of the pine trees there rely on heat from fires to release seeds from their cones, providing for the growth of new trees.
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Associated Press writer Michael Catalini in in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed.
The 32-year-old man accused of stabbing an imam at a mosque Sunday in New Jersey pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge in court Monday afternoon.
Serif Zorba was arrested for allegedly stabbing Imam Sayed Elnakib of the Omar Mosque in Paterson. Elnakib, who is in stable condition, was stabbed during the first prayer of the day around 5:30 a.m. while the congregation was kneeling, mosque spokesperson Abdul Hamdan told CNN.
Surveillance video of the incident shows a group of worshippers at the mosque positioned in five long rows. As they knelt down in prayer, a person wearing a hoodie in the third row moved to the front of the room, stepping over other worshippers, and then thrust his right hand into the back of the kneeling imam, the video shows.
The congregation then rose together, and the assailant tried to push through the crowd and flee out of the back of the mosque, the video shows.
Zorba was charged with first-degree attempted murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a news release from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Zorba, a native of Istanbul, also pleaded not guilty to the unlawful weapon possession charges. His plea was entered Monday by a public defender on Zorba’s behalf.
The suspect appeared in court before Paterson Municipal Court Judge Vincenzo Stampone wearing an orange jumpsuit, with his long hair mostly covering his face. Zorba communicated with court officials through a Turkish translator.
When Stampone asked Zorba about his current address, Zorba indicated that he lived in Paterson but did not offer a proper address.
Zorba is being held on pretrial detention. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
The prosecutor’s office said they could not provide any further details on Zorba’s possible motive, citing the ongoing investigation.
The maximum sentence for his alleged crimes is around 26 years, according to the release.
A $35-million estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, scores high marks for its horse facilities and … [+] park-like grounds.
Turpin Realtors
A gated 75-acre estate in the heart of Bedminster, New Jersey, hunt country can accommodate an array of equestrian pursuits, with multiple riding arenas and thoughtfully designed modern barns surrounded by meticulously detailed landscaping.
The gated estate sits on approximately 75 acres in the affluent New Jersey community known for its … [+] equestrian community.
Sherb Naulty Photography | Turpin Realtors
The property draws inevitable comparisons to world-class equestrian properties in Lexington, Kentucky, and Wellington and Ocala, Florida, said Sharon Ortepio of Turpin Realtors, the listing agent for the estate. The design aesthetic merges modern architecture with a traditional feel.
The property, which features handcrafted South American hardwood fencing, has access to hundreds of … [+] miles of riding trails.
Turpin Realtors
Standout facilities include a 20,000-square-foot indoor riding hall designed by Beyer Blinder Belle that features skylights that span the length of the arena, retractable windows, free-span trusses and a climate-controlled, elevated viewing lounge. An imported 17th-century water trough sits at the hall’s entryway. Outdoors are a more than 5-acre Grand Prix field with natural and traditional obstacles and a 100-foot-by-200-foot outdoor arena with irrigation, extensive drainage and an adjacent gazebo.
The property includes a 20,000-square-foot, skylight-topped indoor riding hall designed by Beyer … [+] Blinder Belle.
Turpin Realtors
A series of barns are outfitted with 20 horse stalls designed by United Kingdom firm Loddon Equestrian Ltd. Each has soft stall mats, an overhead fan and dual doors that provide cross ventilation. The barns all feature a center aisle with radiant-heated rubber floors, along with lofts, heated tack rooms and grooming stalls.
The stable wings can be reached by an arched pergola lined with apple trees.
Turpin Realtors
A vintage four-stall barn is adjoined by two renovated cottages, one with two bedrooms and the other with three, designed to house trainers, grooms and other support staff. There’s a separate storage building to house trailers, tractors and other farm vehicles.
Additional structures on the grounds include two renovated guest cottages.
Carmen Natale | Turpin Realtors
An arched pergola bookended by apple trees leads from the stable wings, one of the many features designed by Deborah Cerbone, a Far Hills, New Jersey-based landscape architect who specializes in equestrian site planning. At the end of the orchard alleyway is a modern “Horse at Water” sculpture by British artist Nic Fiddian-Green, the centerpiece of a grand courtyard.
The main house was also designed by Beyer Blinder Belle.
Turpin Realtors
Handcrafted South American hardwood fencing encloses 11 paddocks and a pond provides decoration as well as drainage and irrigation. The property has access to hundreds of miles of riding trails.
“This is an exceptional equestrian estate,” Ortepio said.
Walnut floors and stone accents are among features of the four-bedroom main residence.
Turpin Realtors
Beyer Blinder Belle also designed a four-bedroom main house, which features classic shingle-style architecture that complements the barn buildings. An open-concept living, kitchen and dining area feature walnut wood floors and stone accents. Glass doors take in a pergola-covered stone terrace, firepit, heated gunite pool and pool house with an ensuite bedroom. The home’s primary suite has a gas fireplace and overlooks the pool and gardens. A garage houses two cars.
Glass-paneled doors take in the scenery in the open-concept living room.
Turpin Realtors
The property recently came to market for $35 million and would suit an amateur or a Grand Prix competitor, accommodating a hunter/jumper, dressage or polo facility.
Outside, there’s patio space and a built-in barbecue. Elsewhere on the grounds in a gunite pool.
Turpin Realtors
The estate at 151 Spook Hollow Road is around 50 miles from Manhattan, in a rural area comprising traditional country estates and farms where traditional fox hunts still take place.
Turpin Realtors is an exclusive member of Forbes Global Properties, a consumer marketplace and membership network of elite brokerages selling the world’s most luxurious homes.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office announced it has assumed control of the Paterson Police Department until new leadership can be installed, saying there is a “crisis of confidence” in the city’s law enforcement.
“People throughout Paterson deserve a public safety system that protects and serves all members of its community, just as the members of the Paterson Police Department deserve adequate resources, support, and innovation from their leadership,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a release Monday.
The top prosecutor said the decision is due to “a number of events and concerns” related to the police department, but he didn’t mention a specific case.
Platkin appointed Isa Abbassi, a 25-year veteran of the New York Police Department, to lead the Paterson Police Department beginning in May.
The state takeover follows a call from nearly 50 state groups, including the ACLU New Jersey, for the US Justice Department to investigate Paterson police after the fatal police shooting of 31-year-old Najee Seabrooks earlier this month.
Seabrooks was apparently having a mental health crisis when he barricaded himself in a bathroom on March 3 and called police for help, according to a statement from the attorney general’s office. Family members told responding officers Seabrooks was hallucinating and behaving erratically, the statement said.
The family and police officers tried to talk him out of the bathroom, where Seabrooks had knives and told officers he had a fully loaded gun and was threatening to shoot police, the statement said.
In body camera footage, police can be seen pleading with Seabrooks to come out of the room and asking him to drop a knife.
The attorney general’s office says Seabrooks lunged at police with the knife and was shot and killed.
The case is under investigation, but New Jersey state law requires all officer-involved death investigations be brought before a grand jury, to determine whether the officers should be indicted.
“All I want is justice for my son,” said Melissa Carter, Seabrooks’ mother, at a news conference Monday, reports CNN affiliate WCBS.
Carter was one of the family members present when her son was killed.
“I can’t sleep at night. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. It’s just painful, very painful. I won’t wish this on no mother,” Carter said.
In a letter to the Justice Department, the state groups accused Paterson police of having “a history of excessive force” and referenced Seabrooks’ death.
“A trend of widespread, unconstitutional (Paterson Police Department) misconduct is unmistakable – and has disproportionately impacted Black and Brown residents, depriving them of their civil rights,” the letter said.
In September two Paterson police officers were sentenced to prison after each pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to violate individuals’ civil rights, using unreasonable and excessive force and filing a false police report, a release from the attorney general’s office said.
From October 2020 to February 2023, there were 736 use-of-force reports submitted by Paterson Police to the state attorney general, according to a database maintained by the attorney general’s office.
More than 55% of use-of-force reports in Paterson involved a Black person, though 23% of Paterson’s residents are Black, an analysis by NJ Spotlight News shows. Statewide, 45% of use-of-force reports involved a Black person, the analysis shows.
ACLU New Jersey’s executive director, Amol Sinha, called Platkin’s announcement a “welcome step” but stressed the importance of giving community leaders a chance to work with the attorney general’s office during this time.
“As we await next steps it is imperative that Paterson community leaders have a voice at the table,” Sinha, said in a statement Monday. “We hope that this process is a collaborative one that will help bring about trust and integrity to the Paterson Police Department, and safety from police violence for the people of Paterson. The community deserves nothing less.”
Paterson Police Chief Bert Ribeiro, who was sworn in the same day Seabrooks was shot, has stepped down, CNN affiliate WCBS reported.
Until Abbassi begins overseeing the police department in May, New Jersey State Police Major Fred Fife will act as interim officer-in-charge, the attorney general’s office said. Fife will be joined by State Police Captain Jafca Mandziuk, Assistant Attorney General Joseph Walsh and other public safety officials.
“Chief Abbassi is an experienced, proven leader who has built community trust and achieved excellence through his innovation at the highest levels of law enforcement in this country,” Platkin said in his office’s release. “I am grateful for his service and I look forward to working with him to ensure public safety in Paterson.
Platkin acknowledged that the change in leadership is just the first step in the long process of trying to regain public trust.
“It will not immediately restore public confidence that the police are committed to providing every resident of Paterson with fair, just, and effective public safety,” he said. “Nor will it address the concerns of officers asked to do a hard and dangerous job in a community that – after years of fiscal challenges and a revolving door of police leadership – has lost faith in its police department, making the jobs of those officers even more difficult.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy applauded Platkin’s announcement, calling the takeover a “bold action.”
“I am confident that his actions will ensure needed reform and give police officers in Paterson the resources, support, and training they need to serve their community,” Murphy said in a statement on Twitter.
The attorney general said he aims to provide officers with more adequate support, resources and supervision.
Platkin also announced a handful of new initiatives, including revising the state’s use of force policy and expanding an initiative that pairs crisis intervention-trained officers with mental health personnel on personal crisis calls.
In December 2022, $1,981 was the typical monthly rent in the United States — a 7.4% increase from the year prior. But while rent has begun to stabilize nationwide, rent affordability remains difficult for many Americans.
“There’s literally nowhere in the country where a tenant is not burdened by their rent,” according to Leah Simon-Weisberg, an adjunct professor of law at UC San Francisco.
In response, support for rent control policies has gained traction.
But this isn’t the first time such policies have had widespread support. After the massive economic disruption caused by World War II, the federal government imposed rent control on roughly 80% of rental housing between 1941 and 1964.
Over time, it was abandoned because prominent economists unanimously argued against the policy. That sentiment mostly continues today.
“There are various surveys of economists. One done by IMG showed that only 2% thought that rent controls in places like New York and San Francisco were having a positive impact on affordable housing,” said Jay Parsons, chief economist at RealPage.
Economists argue that rent control would deter developers from building more homes, which would only worsen the housing supply crisis in the United States.
America already suffers from a deficit of 3.8 million homes, especially at low-income price points, according to Habitat for Humanity.
“We have not invested as a nation in building the supply of housing in a variety of communities, in a variety of different price points. We’ve instead relied on the private sector to do so,” said Sharon Wilson Géno, president of the National Multifamily Housing Council. “But unless that money comes into the market and investors see that as a better investment than some other kind of equity or some other kind of investment, they’re not going to come.”
Watch the video to find out why so many economists are against the idea of widespread rent control.
A monument honoring famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman was unveiled in Newark, New Jersey, this week, replacing a statue of Christopher Columbus removed in 2020 amid social injustice protests, officials said.
The 25-foot-tall monument, titled “Shadow of a Face,” was revealed Thursday at the heart of the city’s recently renamed Harriet Tubman Square, Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka announced in a statement.
“In a time when so many cities are choosing to topple statutes that limit the scope of their people’s story, we have chosen to erect a monument that spurs us into our future story of exemplary strength and solidity,” Baraka said.
“We have created a focal point in the heart of our city that expresses our participation in an ongoing living history of a people who have grappled through many conflicts to steadily lead our nation in its progress toward racial equality.”
Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland and eventually escaped to Pennsylvania. From 1850 to 1860, she made more than a dozen trips to Maryland to help enslaved people reach freedom through the Underground Railroad, a secret network of routes and safe houses, according to the US National Parks Service.
The name of Tubman’s monument was inspired by the 1962 poem “Runagate Runagate” by Robert Hayden, which references the abolitionist. The monument was selected in June 2021 following a national open call and multiphase selection process, Baraka said.
Monument designer and architect Nina Cooke John said she wanted to incorporate the Newark community into the monument.
“One way I wanted to bring about their connection is really to meet the community with the prompt, ‘What is your story of liberation? What is your story – big or small – of really overcoming multiple obstacles that we all have to overcome,’ ” Cooke John said in an interview published by the Harriet Tubman Monument Project.
Michele Jones Gavin, Tubman’s three-times great-grand niece, said the monument will commemorate the activist’s heroism and inspire future generations to take action in the face of injustice.
“Let’s forever remember Harriet Tubman, for her compassion, courage, bravery, service to others, her patriotism, and her commitment to faith, family, fortitude, and freedom,” Gavin said.
The Columbus statue Tubman’s memorial replaces was removed amid a nationwide racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The movement spurred the removal or renaming of dozens of monuments, including those of Confederate leaders and other controversial figures in US history.
Columbus has long been a contentious figure for his treatment of the Indigenous communities he encountered and for his role in the violent colonization at their expense.
The monument includes two sections: a portrait wall and a mosaic of tiles, all contained within a circular learning wall inscribed with stories of Tubman’s life and Newark’s history of Black liberation, the mayor’s statement said.
The portrait wall features a larger-than-life depiction of Tubman while the mosaic features stories from Newark residents.
“Not only are their stories physically a part of the monument, but they can also come to the monument and feel that ownership because they were really a part of creating it,” Cooke John said in her interview with the Harriet Tubman Monument Project.
“Seeing their stories being a part of other stories of people from Newark in this mosaic that’s on the wall and is attached to the backside of the wall that has Harriet Tubman’s face, the central figure which grounds us in the larger-than-life story of Harriet Tubman.”
Residents also recorded some of their personal stories for the monument’s audio experience, according to the mayor’s statement. The audio experience includes the story of Tubman’s life, narrated by entertainer Queen Latifah. Audio clips will also be included in school curricula, in collaboration with the Newark Museum of Art.
To complement the monument, galleries at the Newark Museum of Art will incorporate stories related to slavery and the slave trade, Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, deputy director for learning and engagement at the Newark Museum of Art, said in a video interview published by the Harriet Tubman Monument Project.
Harriet Tubman Square is near the intersection of Washington and Broad streets in downtown Newark’s arts district.
The monument is close to the Newark Museum of Art at 49 Washington Street. Click here for public transportation options to the area.
