NJ police promised to keep protesters off a synagogue, then charged the Jewish doctor who stopped a chokehold, lawsuit says

A New Jersey dentist and volunteer EMT says West Orange police promised to keep anti-Israel protesters off a synagogue's property, let them onto the grounds anyway, and then went after him with criminal charges when he stepped in to protect an older congregant, according to a federal lawsuit reported by JNS.

Dr. Moshe Glick filed the civil rights complaint on Nov. 10 in US District Court in New Jersey against West Orange Township, its police department and the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. It concerns a Nov. 13, 2024 Israeli real estate event at Congregation Ohr Torah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue.

The suit says Glick warned police ahead of time that protesters might march near the synagogue. In an email cited in the complaint, then-deputy chief Matthew Feula, now the chief, assured him the group "will not be permitted on private property" and that "the safety of all individuals will be paramount." Glick says he relied on that and did not hire more private security.

According to the complaint, officers did not put up barricades or stop protesters, and a supervising sergeant was recorded saying he would put his body camera in the car. The suit alleges police did not step in when a protester put congregant David Silberberg, then 64, in a chokehold, and that Glick struck the man with a flashlight to make him let go. It says the sergeant, who admitted he did not see the fight, declared that "the doctor" would be locked up, and that Glick was prosecuted even after a prosecutor recommended dropping the charges.

Then-Gov. Phil Murphy pardoned Glick in January, and the remaining charges were dismissed Feb. 17. "What happened here to Dr. Glick should be shocking to every fair-minded American," his lawyer, David Schoen, told JNS. JNS said it asked the police department for comment.