A group of Hispanic elected officials and community leaders plan to denounce the Department of Justice for accusing U.S. Senator Bob Menendez of “racializing” his trial last year.
A media advisory issued by the office of U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York) said that “given the Trump Administration’s continuous attacks on immigrants, voting rights and other crucial issues, the state’s Hispanic community fears the decision to retry Senator Menendez is the latest example of the DOJ being weaponized to target minorities.”
Participating in the rally on the steps of Elizabeth City Hall are: Sires; Senate President Pro Tempore Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark); State Sen. Joe Cryan (D-Elizabeth); former Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus); Assemblywomen Angelica Jimenez (D-West New York); Mayors Wilda Diaz of Perth Amboy and Felix Roque of West New York; Hudson County Clerk Junior Maldonado; freeholders from Middlesex, Union and Bergen counties; and local elected officials from Newark, Elizabeth, Rahway, Bayonne, and West New York. Also attending are Latino Action Network president Christian Estevez, New Jersey Statewide Chamber of Commerce chairman Carlos Media; Colombianos Sin Fronteras vice president Guillermo Piernagorda, and Democratic activist Idida Rodriguez.