JACKSON — Anti-Semitic messages that were posted online by a group of Jackson teenagers are expected to come under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice after those messages were shown to U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
The posts included photographs of a teenage girl dressed in faux Nazi regalia and threats of violence against the Orthodox Jewish community in Lakewood.
According to Steven Sandberg, a spokesman for Menendez, the posts were shown to the senator during a forum with the Agudath Israel of America National Board of Trustees in Washington, D.C. The forum was being held to address hate speech and anti-Semitism, he said.
“Like most [people] seeing these tweets for the first time, the senator was horrified and disturbed by their level of hate and vitriol,” Sandberg said. “There is a global rise in hate speech and anti-Semitism that [Sen. Menendez] finds troubling and he believes that, when coupled with threats of violence against a group of people, they must be taken seriously.”
Sandberg said Menendez responded to the posts from the Jackson teenagers within the larger context of widespread anti-Semitism and not as a direct response to the local investigation into what had occurred.
In response to the posts, the Anti- Defamation League’s New Jersey affiliate condemned the teenagers’ messages and called them “alarming and outrageous.”
Shortly after the posts were disseminated through social media, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office conducted an investigation into whether the messages posed an actionable threat.
Following the investigation, Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, said no charges would be filed against any of the teens involved in the matter. He said no criminal offense took place. Della Fave said the prosecutor’s office would leave the issue of discipline to the teens’ parents and administrators in the Jackson School District.
Although Sandberg said Menendez believed local authorities “did the right thing” by investigating the posts, the senator indicated he wanted the U.S. Department of Justice to take a closer look into the matter.
“Due to … recent hate-fueled attacks overseas, it is important for the Justice Department to examine this case in the larger context to rule out any risk to public safety and our homeland security,” Sandberg said.
— Andrew Martins