State lawsuit claims New Jersey town's former mayor directed police to keep minorities out
Source: AP
Updated 4:24 PM EST, January 16, 2026
CLARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey town whose former mayor was once heard denigrating Black people on secret recordings made by a whistleblower is now facing a state lawsuit that claims he and local police officials directed officers to keep minorities out of the community.
The complaint, filed by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the office’s Division on Civil Rights, names former Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, suspended town police chief Pedro Matos and the current police director Patrick Grady as defendants. It claims the town’s leaders “systematically discriminated against and harassed Black and other non-white motorists.”
Bonaccorso, a Republican, was the town’s mayor for about 25 years before he resigned in January 2025, just days after starting his seventh term in office. He had been easily reelected in November 2024 despite allegations of corruption. He left office after pleading guilty to using township resources to benefit his private landscaping business and forging signatures on permit applications for work his company performed in the area.
Bonaccorso did not respond to a voicemail message left Friday. When asked about the suit by NJ.com, he texted them back a two-word response, using an expletive to describe the suit.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/clark-new-jersey-mayor-racial-slurs-2cb8467637485413a03ac8dbb26a3ac2
Link to NJ AG Platkin PRESS RELEASE - AG Platkin, Division on Civil Rights File Lawsuit Against Clark Township for Discriminatory Policing Practices
Link to SUIT (PDF) - https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-0115_Clark-Complaint-with-CIS.pdf
This township is in northeast Jersey, not far from NYC and apparently has a rep of being a "sundown town" (yes, these still exist).
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