TRENTON, NJ – When protestors and rioters looted New Jersey’s cities, set fires and damaged property, Governor Phil Murphy called it a peaceful protest, protected by the first amendment.
When Trump supporters drove down the Garden State Parkway and were blocked from exiting into a service area in Cheesequake, Governor Murphy said it was a reckless incident and called for his sidekick, New Jersey State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan to investigate possible criminal activity.
“With regard to the parkway, I want to be clear that that situation on the parkway yesterday was incredibly irresponsible and dangerous,” Col. Callahan said. “I was glad to see that the troopers on the ground there took quick action and cleaned up that situation as quickly and as safely as possible. I was also on the phone today with the Commissioner of the DOT talking about video, and any possible enforcement actions are being followed up on by our detectives out at Troop D.”
Murphy said the protest was pointless because Trump has no shot of winning New Jersey, one of the bluest liberal cesspools of America.
“If you want to get your guy elected President, either one of these guys, go to Pennsylvania or go to someplace where the race is on the knife’s edge,” Murphy said.
“It was just really close, there’s plenty of ways for people to make their voices heard but when they endanger the lives of those out there traveling our highways and byways, there really is no excuse for it. It gave us a great cause for concern,” Callahan added. “For those that don’t know what is lawful and what is not, our phone lines are always open and anyone planning on doing anything of that nature, regardless of the cause, should reach out to law enforcement and understand what’s lawful and what is not.”
Murphy continued, adding his involvement in protests saying they were handled well, but the Trump road rally was dangerous and put others in harm’s way.
“I was asked this morning in an interview and I use two adjectives, silly and dangerous. I want to say, for my own tastes, a lot more weight on the dangerous side. Silly because I don’t know what that accomplished.But the dangerous part, that’s just not on,” Murphy said. “Folks are welcome to protest and Pat, I can tell you, you and I have had to get our arms around, over the past eight months, a lot of protests, whether it’s at the War Memorial or driving down State Street or at our home, whatever. Folks have generally done a really good, responsible job. The only thing that I got upset about, and I know you did too, is that folks were in close proximity at a lot of those protests without wearing any face coverings. But they didn’t suck in other folks who weren’t part of it. They didn’t put other people in harm’s way.”
The governor said the Trump protest bothered him.
“What happened yesterday put other innocent people who were not part of it in harm’s way. I know that’s what bothered you and that certainly bothers me.”
The backup on the Garden State Parkway occurred when New Jersey State Police troopers blocked the caravan from exiting the GSP express lanes into the Cheesequake service area after many of the caravan drivers indicated they needed a rest from driving, to eat and refuel to continue their drive.