A New Jersey man pleaded guilty Thursday to committing a series of bias-motivated violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish community in and around Lakewood, New Jersey, officials stated.
On Feb. 1, Dion Marsh, 29, of Manchester, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi in federal court. He is charged with five counts of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and one count of carjacking, according to authorities.
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.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 11. Marsh is facing life in prison when he is sentenced, prosecuters stated.
“This defendant is being held accountable for his series of depraved, antisemitic assaults against members of the Orthodox Jewish community,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Hate-filled acts of violence, intended to harm, intimidate and isolate communities, have no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic violence across our country.”
“This defendant violently attacked five men, driving a car into four of them, stabbing one of them in the chest, and attempting to kill them, simply because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “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.”
Adding, “The threat from hate-fueled violence is a sad reality across our state and our nation. That hate is not who we are. We are stronger as a people because no matter what you look like, how you worship, where you come from, or who you love, your civil rights must be respected and protected. My office has no higher priority than protecting the civil rights of our New Jersey residents.”
“We have said time and again as we investigate a significant rise in hate crimes, hating someone isn’t a crime, but hating someone and then attacking them based on that hate is a violation of federal law,” said Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy of the FBI Newark Field Office. “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.
Members of the Orthodox Jewish community were wearing traditional attire on each of Marsh’s victims. They were assaulted because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews.
- Specifically, at 1:18 p.m. on April 8, 2022, in Lakewood, Marsh forced a man readily identifiable by his appearance as an Orthodox Jew out of his car, assaulting and injuring him. Marsh took control of the man’s car and drove away.
- At 5:20 p.m., Marsh was in Lakewood driving a different car when he deliberately struck another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man with the vehicle, attempting to kill the victim.
- At 6:06 p.m., Marsh used that second vehicle to deliberately strike another man identifiable by his appearance as an Orthodox Jew, attempting to kill the victim and causing him to suffer several broken bones.
- At 6:55 p.m., Marsh, once again using the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, struck and attempted to kill another man readily identifiable as an Orthodox Jew while he was walking in Lakewood. Marsh got out of the vehicle and stabbed the man in the chest with a knife, causing the victim to suffer serious injuries.
- At 8:23 p.m., Marsh, still using the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, deliberately struck another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man who was walking in nearby Jackson Township, New Jersey, attempting to kill the man and causing him to suffer several broken bones and internal injuries.
The FBI Newark Field Office’s Red Bank Resident Agency, Lakewood Police Department, Jackson Township Police Department, Ocean County Sheriff’s Office, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, and New Jersey State Police investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Civil Rights Division, R. Joseph Gribko, for the District of New Jersey, prosecuted the case with assistance from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.