The Lakewood Vaad issued a public call to Attorney General Christopher Porrino and other law enforcement officials to investigate a string of comments by New Jersey residents inciting hate and violence against Jews in Ocean County.

One particularly disturbing comment recently came from John Burrows, a former Jackson Zoning Board member and Jackson First Aid Trustee. Referring to Ocean County Jews, Burrows wrote on Facebook: “Or we can fight them in the streets, they are chickens and will fall easy if they push us to violence, which is what they seem to want to do.” Mr. Burrows has a history of inciteful social media comments, including referring to Jews as “cockroaches” and a “cancer” and wished death upon elected officials who have friendly relationships with the Jewish community. However, his latest comment openly calling for violence against our community crossed a new line even for him.

Several concerned residents reported the comment to Facebook but, as of the publication of this article, no action has been taken against Mr. Burrows and the comment is still up. Similarly disturbing is the fact that the administrators of the “Jackson NJ Strong” page did not remove the comment or ban Mr. Burrows, nor did any commenter, besides one Orthodox man, take Mr. Burrows to task for this comment.

Although the First Amendment protects the right to free speech – including repugnant speech – there is clear legal precedent that inciting violence and bias intimidation are illegal, and the culprits can be stopped, even prosecuted. Beyond the legalities involved, the fact that a former Jackson government official has made these comments confirmed suspicions among Jewish residents that some actions taken by government officials against Eruvs, dormitories and other activities that affect the Orthodox community have roots in ethnic bias, and not an innocuous concern over quality of life.

Ironically, Mr. Burrows’s latest comment was mere days after it was reported that Jackson is rated as the second to the safest municipality in New Jersey. “It is frightening to know that when I go shopping with my children, some of the people standing near us on line likely read these comments,” one Orthodox Jackson woman remarks. “We pray that no one is driven to action, Heaven forbid, by this hate. It goes squarely against the law abiding, quiet character that attracted my family and so many others to Jackson.”

“Attorney General Porrino has proven to be a fearless defender of the right of Jewish residents to live in peace and practice our religion without being intimidated by discriminatory laws or any other hate,” says Rabbi Moshe Weisberg, citing the Attorney General’s aggressive legal action against Mahwah over its discriminatory laws. “It is our hope that law enforcement in our state will promptly and properly investigate the comments made by Mr. Burrows and others, so that this behavior can be put to a stop once and for all.”