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Old March 1st, 2008 #1
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Join Date: Jun 2007
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Default Nigger Mayor Receiving "Racial Threats"

Racial threat reward raised
Saturday, March 01, 2008
By Lucas K. Murray
[email protected]

SOUTH HARRISON TWP. Hoping to bring closure to the most turbulent time in this quiet community's 125-year history, township officials have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of those involved in racial threats against Mayor Charles Tyson.

"I can't begin to talk about the level of disgust that I think a lot of people in this town went through on this particular situation," an emotional Deputy Mayor Robert Campbell said at Wednesday's township committee meeting.

"I made a promise to myself that, when we got through this, I was going to do something about it," Campbell added.

Tyson was the recipient of threatening phone calls to both his home and cell phones beginning Dec. 14, 2006 a few weeks prior to being appointed the township's first black mayor by his fellow committee members.

The phone calls to Tyson included racial slurs and threats that he'd never be mayor. That same year, a tire on Tyson's Jeep was slashed while he dined at a Swedesboro restaurant.

The incidents drew national attention.

"The prosecutor got involved at that point and it was clear they made a lot of headway, and we thought this thing was kind of behind us," Campbell said. "Then last October, the whole situation surfaced again."

On Halloween morning, Tyson awoke to find that one of the campaign signs posted in front of his Route 45 home had been spray-painted with a term the prosecutor's office termed "racially pejorative," along with the initials for white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan.

After Tyson had successfully defended his seat on township committee in November's election and had been re-appointed mayor, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office posted $5,000 toward a reward.

In a recent interview, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said the investigation into the sign-defacing case is ongoing. Spokesman Bernie Weisenfeld noted that bias intimidation crimes have a five-year statutory limit for prosecution.

Prosecutor Sean Dalton said the case "remains a priority for this office."

An additional $12,000 has been posted by township residents and some of the town's professional consultants.

Through an ordinance introduced by township committee Wednesday night, $3,000 would be appropriated to bring the total reward to $20,000 for information "leading to the detection, arrest and conviction of all those persons involved in any bias crime committed against Mayor Charles Tyson."

Tyson, a retired computer technician who has lived all of his 65 years in South Harrison, has said that he had not previously witnessed such an overt display of racism in what was once largely farmland.

"We're not going to stand for any kind of bias crimes or harassment against me or anyone else in the township," Tyson said. "We're going to step forward to ensure we protect all the citizens of South Harrison."

Tyson thanked Campbell for championing the ordinance and praised his fellow committee members for their support. Although still concerned about the incidents, the mayor said that he would focus on conducting the business of South Harrison.

"My 12-year-old daughter caught wind of this, and that was a really tough conversation," Campbell stated. "I don't think any of us in this town when we came here and spent $400,000 $500,000, $600,000 for our homes and our school system I don't think that anyone signed up for this course."

The committee's $3,000 contribution to the reward fund isn't finalized yet. Before appropriating the funds, input from the public must be heard.

A public hearing will be held March 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the South Harrison Township Building.

Until then, township officials are asking residents to act as deputies to help authorities come up with leads.

"Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends," Campbell said. "Let's find out whoever is doing this, and let's put these people in jail once and for
 
 

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