Lynch Tree
11-03-2017, 07:17 AM
The former chief of a small township in New Jersey has been arrested on federal hate crime and civil rights charges for what federal authorities described as a pattern of racist comments and behavior — including slamming an African-American teen's head into a metal door jamb and saying that black people are "like ISIS."
According to a criminal complaint in the case, filed in federal district court in New Jersey, Nucera frequently referred to African-Americans by racial slurs and espoused violence toward them. In November 2015, for example, when he was talking to a subordinate officer about an African-American man he believed to have slashed the tires of a police vehicle, Nucera said, "I wish that [expletive] would come back from Trenton and give me a reason to put my hands on him, I'm tired of 'em. These [expletives] are like ISIS, they have no value. They should line them all up and mow 'em down. I'd like to be on the firing squad, I could do it," according to the complaint.
Nucera also used police dogs to intimidate African-Americans, bringing canines to high school basketball games when his department was providing security and positioning them near the entrance to the gym, federal authorities alleged.
The physical violence of which Nucera is accused occurred in September 2016. According to the criminal complaint, the manager of a Ramada hotel called police to report that two African-American teens, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, had failed to pay for a hotel room the night before and were swimming in the hotel pool.
When officers arrived, according to complaint, the teens resisted arrest. One of the officers pepper sprayed the 18-year-old, and both teens were eventually handcuffed and taken into custody, according to the complaint.
Several minutes later, as officers were walking the 18-year-old toward a stairwell, the teen briefly stopped and began shouting, according to the complaint. Though he was not kicking or struggling, Nucera approached, grab the teen's head and slammed it into a metal door jamb, according to the complaint.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-new-jersey-police-chief-federal-hate-crime-civil-rights-charges-20171102-story.html
According to a criminal complaint in the case, filed in federal district court in New Jersey, Nucera frequently referred to African-Americans by racial slurs and espoused violence toward them. In November 2015, for example, when he was talking to a subordinate officer about an African-American man he believed to have slashed the tires of a police vehicle, Nucera said, "I wish that [expletive] would come back from Trenton and give me a reason to put my hands on him, I'm tired of 'em. These [expletives] are like ISIS, they have no value. They should line them all up and mow 'em down. I'd like to be on the firing squad, I could do it," according to the complaint.
Nucera also used police dogs to intimidate African-Americans, bringing canines to high school basketball games when his department was providing security and positioning them near the entrance to the gym, federal authorities alleged.
The physical violence of which Nucera is accused occurred in September 2016. According to the criminal complaint, the manager of a Ramada hotel called police to report that two African-American teens, an 18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl, had failed to pay for a hotel room the night before and were swimming in the hotel pool.
When officers arrived, according to complaint, the teens resisted arrest. One of the officers pepper sprayed the 18-year-old, and both teens were eventually handcuffed and taken into custody, according to the complaint.
Several minutes later, as officers were walking the 18-year-old toward a stairwell, the teen briefly stopped and began shouting, according to the complaint. Though he was not kicking or struggling, Nucera approached, grab the teen's head and slammed it into a metal door jamb, according to the complaint.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-new-jersey-police-chief-federal-hate-crime-civil-rights-charges-20171102-story.html