TRENTON, NJ – White supremacy is a problem plaguing New Jersey, according to Attorney General Matt Platkin and Governor Phil Murphy. A report by the state claims white supremacists have infiltrated all levels of government and law enforcement agencies.
“Our new white supremacy report is our latest step towards combating racist radicalization & building a more just, equitable & inclusive society. It’s incumbent upon all of us to dismantle white supremacy by turning the report’s recommendations into action,” Platkin said today.
The state has released a plan to ‘combat’ racist and violent extremism in the Garden State, which the Murphy administration has identified as a major issue facing New Jersey.
“For our state to address white supremacy, we need to start from a common understanding. What is white supremacy? How does it affect us? How does it affect our friends and neighbors? And what role can each of us play in dismantling it,” Platkin said.
According to the FBI, in 2021, 220 bias crimes were reported in New Jersey.
In the report, the state referenced the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building and a shooting at a Buffalo, New York supermarket.
“And as the number of bias incidents continues to rise in New Jersey and nationally, communities across the state and the country continue to witness and experience acts of white supremacist extremism far too regularly,” the report states.
“White supremacist violent extremists have pursued a deliberate strategy to infiltrate positions of authority in government and law enforcement and (mis)use their authority to harass, assault, incarcerate, and disenfranchise Black people and other people of color,” the report claims.
The report also noted that parents upset with the direction of New Jersey public school curriculums fall into the same category of white supremacy.
“The mainstreaming of false narratives around Critical Race Theory have led many people – from local parents118 and school board members119 to members of the New Jersey legislature120 and former President Donald Trump121 – to oppose teaching not only Critical Race Theory itself, which is a body of legal scholarship taught in law school and some college-level coursework, but also any attempt to teach about the history of racism in America in K-12 schools.122 And the mainstreaming of false narratives painting LGBTQIA+ education as “‘indoctrination’ and ‘sexualization’ of children” has similarly led community members in New Jersey123 and throughout the country to support bans seeking to censor any effort by educators to teach truthful information about the LGBTQIA+ community,” the report states.
Platkin said the New Jersey law enforcement community has been infiltrated by white supremacists, known as three percenters.
“New Jersey law enforcement agencies have recognized the risk that militia extremism will infiltrate their ranks, especially after the Jersey City Police Department disclosed that it had identified a cadre of self-styled Three Percenters in one of its units in 2013,” Platkin said.
Platkin claims white supremacist cops give black residents felony charges in order to stop them from voting.
He said neo-nazi’s prey upon the insecurities of young white men.
New Jersey’s OHSP 2020 Threat Assessment elevated white supremacist violent extremists to a “high” threat in 2020 due in part to their effectiveness in recruiting online.
“White supremacist extremists will pose a high threat to New Jersey in 2020 as supporters of this ideology demonstrate their willingness and capability to carry out attacks, direct and inspire sympathizers online, and attempt to network globally. New Jersey’s OHSP 2022 Terrorism Threat Assessment continued to identify white supremacist violent extremist’s social media use as a factor in the “high” threat they continue to pose to the state. They will likely use social media as an avenue to spread their ideology, recruit new members, and communicate,” the report noted.