After it was reported to police officials that a white nationalist group had allegedly posted two signs in Bordertown City, Mayor James Lynch stated his stance on the matter at a recent Board of Commissioners meeting.
Approximately sometime in the early weeks of August, city officials reported that postings had surfaced on Facebook from Bordentown residents who had witnessed two signs displayed in the city which read, “Feminism is cancer” and “Protect your race.”
The website listed on the signs was reported to be NJEHA.com, which publishes content under the New Jersey European Heritage Association.
According to content on the group’s website, its rhetoric states that “The White European people in America and abroad are racing towards the cliff of extinction…The future of our world is a dark one, literally and figuratively. The non-Whites who will come to replace us will recreate the failed societies they have fled.”
Given the literature posted on the group’s website, alleged to be the distributors of the two signs in the city, Lynch’s message to the community and the group believed to be behind this activity was, “They picked the wrong town.”
The Bordentown City mayor said that once photos of the signs were posted on Facebook, the response from the community turned into a “very negative back-and-forth on social media.” Lynch said that although some people in the community felt the postings could have been an alleged joke or prank, the seriousness of the matter was not to be taken lightly.
“If someone thought they were going to come into town and try to divide the town, try to start trouble, or do it as a joke – I don’t think it is a joke,” Lynch said. “I don’t think the people who put these signs up are funny, and I don’t think it was meant to be a joke. I think it was meant to send a signal. Somehow, some way, they picked our town.
“Given what happened in El Paso and Dayton, I think enough has been said. Please, do not tie these sorts of things to Bordentown. We are not like that. We do not live like that,” Lynch said.
Lynch, who has been the city mayor for more than 30 years as well as been a longtime resident, explained at the meeting that he felt the community has always been welcoming to all races, religions and cultures.
“This is not going to be tolerated, and we are going to fight back as hard as we can,” he said. “We are probably one of the most diverse communities in the state, if not, the entire country. We have everything, and that’s why a lot of people move here.
“It’s a walk-able town, and you see a lot of different religions. You see just about every type of church in Bordentown for a reason, and we are proud of that. We are proud of our origins and our various immigration families that came here,” he explained.
Lynch even went on to explain the heritage of his own family at the meeting.
“My family came here from Italy on my mother’s side. My father’s side came here from Ireland. It’s no different from someone coming here from Africa, Israel, England or Spain. It’s the same thing,” he said.
City officials said that the matter has been brought to the police, who turned the investigation to the United States Department of Homeland Security per protocol. At this time, city officials said that the matter is being “actively investigated.”
Lynch concluded his statement at the meeting with a message to the community that while this investigation carries out, officials intend to update residents on any new information reported and explained the municipality’s stance on the issue.
“I want everyone to know that this is no laughing matter, and I don’t think it was ever meant to be a laughing matter,” he said. “This is not going to be taken lightly at all. As events unfold, we will try to keep the public informed as we can. Sometimes when you try to bring attention to yourself as it happened on Facebook, then we have to step and defend it – that is what we are doing.”
