NEW JERSEY – State law enforcement representatives are seeking to identify and charge drivers who participated in Sunday’s Trump support caravan that backed up parts of the Garden State Parkway for miles, according to NJ State Police Col. Pat Callahan.
Col. Callahan said Monday that “when [people] endanger the ways of those traveling on highways and byways, there really are no excuses for it.”
His remarks were made during Gov. Phil Murphy’s update concerning COVID-19. “It gave us great cause for concern,” Callahan added.
A few days before Election Day, supporters of President Donald J. Trump came out in strong numbers around the state and paraded through Westchester, NY and north Jersey and in areas of Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Their caravan stopped traffic on the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge and for nearly five miles along the Garden State Parkway.
Callahan said that no citations had been issued because doing so would hinder the already-slowed flow of traffic. A portion of the GSP in Holmdel was closed with some supporters on social media declaring “we shut it down” in one video. “If we are able to get enough evidence I would imagine that they would be issued motor vehicle summonses for obstructing traffic.”
Other social media reports stated that it was the State Police that closed some of the exit ramps. No response from the NJSP have come in regarding an inquiry about that by JerseyShoreOnline.com.
Murphy called the caravan silly and dangerous. “I don’t know what that accomplished,” he said during his press conference.
“What happened yesterday put other innocent people who weren’t part of it in harm’s way. Folks are welcome to protest, folks have done a really good job… they didn’t suck in other folks who weren’t part of it,” the governor added.
Hundreds of supporters came out to First Energy Park in Lakewood flying Trump and American flags, wearing MAGA (Make America Great Again) hats and T-shirts with decorated vehicles that were part of a multi-state event called MAGA Drags.
Veterans Park in Berkeley Township was their destination point according to the Trump supporters which also led to a slow down of traffic on Route 9 as vehicles awaited their turn to enter the park.
A day earlier, In the northern end of the state a parade of Trump supporters reached Union City with dozens of decorated cars driving down Bergenline Avenue the core hub of the North Hudson County’s Hispanic community. New York authorities are also seeking to identify those who caused delays in that state along the new Tappan Zee Bridge.
The San Marcos Police Department in Texas is working with the FBI in an investigation concerning an incident on Friday where a convoy of Trump supporters surrounded a campaign bus of Joe Biden and a vehicle carrying staffers on Friday.
