An attendee rushed the Orthodox Jewish council president at a Jackson Township, N.J., council meeting Tuesday evening after accusing him of fascism and supporting genocide, prompting police intervention.

“I thought the mayor and council would at least try to help us, but quickly realized that if you didn’t feel bad about directly contributing to a genocide and abusing your own residents’ trust to make money off of them, then you probably won’t care about a missing person in your own town or lying to us, promising a donation and never donating, using a missing person as a way to generate votes while never actually doing anything at all,” the attendee, a young man wearing an olive-green T-shirt, said.

“[Unintelligible] and Mordechai Burnstein are fascists, and they are unfit to hold positions of power anywhere. How can you justify this?” he added.

Council President Mordechai Burnstein said he found the remarks offensive.

“I’m going to take offense. I don’t think anyone up here is a fascist, and I don’t think anyone here supports genocide,” Burnstein replied. “And the victims of Oct. 7 were victims of terror, and I’m just going to say that, and I’m going to continue to say that.”

“And if you disagree, you’re welcome to disagree. It’s America, and we’re allowed to disagree,” he continued. “But I’m, that’s, you know what I’m going to say when it comes, when it comes to that,” he continued.

At this point, the young man moved threateningly toward the Jewish leader.

“Now, order. Step back. Step back from me,” Burnstein said.

Police immediately converged on the young man, and an officer could be heard shouting, “Do not touch him. He’s talking. Do not intimidate him. Back up. That’s intimidation. 18 U.S.C. § 242, 18 U.S.C. § 241.”

The statutes 18 U.S.C. § 242 and 18 U.S.C. § 241 are federal criminal statutes related to depriving people of their constitutional rights.

When the man refused to comply and became more aggressive, police officers hustled him away.