Dion Marsh, Hate Crimes, New Jersey 2022

State: New Jersey
Category: Violent Crime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/new-jersey-man-pleads-guilty-series-violent-assaults-members-orthodox-jewish-community" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to committing a series of bias-motivated violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish community in and around Lakewood, New Jersey.

Dion Marsh, 29, of Manchester, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi in federal court to an information charging him with five counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and one count of carjacking.

Marsh is charged with willfully causing bodily injury to five victims and attempting to kill and cause injuries with dangerous weapons to four of the victims, because they are Jewish.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division called Marsh’s actions ‘depraved, antisemitic assaults’ and vowed to continue aggressively prosecuting perpetrators of antisemitic violence across the country.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey said, ‘Today, he pleaded guilty to these hate crimes and a carjacking, and my office will ask the judge to impose a sentence that holds Marsh accountable for his brutal and hate-filled rampage.’

Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy of the FBI Newark Field Office said, ‘Marsh admits he targeted five innocent people in 2022 because they were Orthodox Jews. Personal beliefs don’t give someone the right to attack and attempt to kill another human being because they may not ascribe to a similar religion or way of life.’

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 8, 2022, Marsh carried out a series of violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish Community in and around Lakewood. Each of Marsh’s victims was attired in traditional garments worn by members of the Orthodox Jewish community and was assaulted because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews.

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