LAKEWOOD, NJ – Lakewood police are investigating a possible bias crime after a dead pig was dropped on the front porch of a Lakewood rabbi. The Lakewood Police Department is actively conducting a Bias Harassment investigation, with the assistance of the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department as well as several of our local counterparts.
Just after 7 am on Saturday, November 28th, Officer Rusk was dispatched to a Treetop Lane home after receiving a call that an unknown person had placed the carcass of a pig at the doorstep of a local rabbi. Responding officers and investigators were able to determine that the event had taken place sometime between midnight and 7:00 am,” Lakewood police detective Greg Staffordsmith. “Currently, we are actively pursuing several leads and hope to bring this to a conclusion very soon. Chief Gregory H. Meyer would like to remind the public that such acts will not be tolerated. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.”
Lakewood is home to one of America’s largest population of Orthodox Jews. Pigs, according to the Jewish religion are not kosher animals and the act of leaving a dead pig on a person’s doorstep would typically amount to an offense of harassment or intimidation for anyone, the act of leaving a pig, known to be offensive to the Orthodox Jewish religion heightens the crime to a hate crime, similar to the painting of a swastika.
At this time Staffordsmith did not say whether or not this incident was tied to an existing online hate group that operates within Ocean County.