TRENTON – In a scathing statement, the legislators of the 37th Legislative District express their outrage with the Mayor of Englewood Cliffs, Mario Kranjac’s decision to fine a student 2500 dollars for police overtime because of a Black Lives Matter protest she organized:
“We were outraged to learn about the treatment of a young Englewood Cliffs resident by her own Mayor and Administration. Students like Emily Gil should be celebrated and not be threatened with a bill for $2500 by her own local community for speaking out against racism and bigotry.
“The decision of Mayor Kranjac to bill Emily for her courageous work is not only ignorant of the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement to our communities but it is also an “anomaly”, as stated by experts such as Micah Rasmussen of The Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University and Alan Zalkind, director of the Center for Government Services at Rutgers University. Both experts have noted that local governments typically charge organizations and companies for public demonstrations, not events planned by teenagers.
“We have formally requested the ACLU to review the constitutionality of this outrageous decision and to step in to protect Emily’s rights if necessary.”
New Jersey’s Legislative District 37 is represented by Senator Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg; Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Valerie Vainieri Huttle; Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore, Gordon M. Johnson.