https://youtu.be/0EbxlaALpJ0
Neighbors in the Essex Place condo complex in Mount Laurel, New Jersey cheered as Edward Cagney Matthews was taken away by police a day after going on a racist tirade directed at one of his neighbors, WTXF Fox-29 Philadelphia reports.
Matthews, a 45-year-old white man, had been charged with bias intimidation and harassment following the incident Friday where he called is neighbor a “monkey” and the n-word in the presence of a police officer. The county prosecutor’s office added charges of assault after it determined, by watching the video linked here, that Matthews spit at the neighbor.
After the video of the initial incident went viral, more than one hundred people assembled at Matthews’ condo on Grammercy Way. Matthews’ repeated racial attacks on his neighbors had been an ongoing problem, according to people who live in the neighborhood.
During Matthews’ arrest, a number of protestors threw things at the police car in which he was riding. Mount Laurel Police Spokesman Kyle Gardner said some police were sprayed with pepper spray, but no injuries were reported. After Matthews’ arrest, protesters smashed the windows of his condo before police secured the scene.
Neighbors had repeated complained to police about Matthews’ behavior and his repeated attacks on Black residents. They expressed frustration that he hadn’t been arrested prior to the video going viral.