Mount Laurel residents speak out over viral video at township meeting

Shawnette Wilson reports from a Mount Laurel Township meeting where residents express their outrage over the viral video of a man seen hurling racist slurs at a neighbor.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - Residents of Mount Laurel are demanding answers, days after video showed a man on a racist rant directed at a neighbor. They claim the kind of harassment has been going on for years, but police took until this month before they did anything.

They want township leaders to be held accountable.

"You guys allowed him to go rogue because of inaction," resident Aaliyah Robinson remarked.

Robinson stood before a packed Mount Laurel Township meeting Monday night, angered by the events she says were allowed to go on for years, before a resident was arrested for terrorizing African American neighbors.

"This is one of his first victims four years ago. And, not enough was done, or this stuff wouldn’t be happening," Robinson continued.

She stood before council with her daughter, who she says was harassed by 45-year-old Edward Cagney Matthews and says, after his arrest, her daughter’s car was vandalized with racial slurs over the weekend, she believes by Matthews’ supporters.

"You’re not going to intimidate us. We have the right to live here," Robinson added.

The outrage was sparked by the viral video showing Matthews on a racist rant directed at a neighbor.

Stacy Regg is infuriated by how police handled arresting Matthews and his claims that he had long been protected by Mount Laurel police.

"If you’re not aware of that video, I suggest you google his name and you see him bragging about the relationship he has with the police department," Regg stated.

Monday night, the town solicitor said, after talking with Mount Laurel Police Chief Reidner and the county prosecutor, he would paraphrase a statement released July 8th by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. It detailed the arrest process.