N.J. Admin. Code § Executive Order No. 96 (2019)
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 96 (2019)
A Tribute to the Life and Passing of the Victims of the Hate Crime in Jersey City
Issued: December 12, 2019.
Effective: December 12, 2019.
WHEREAS, on December 10, 2019, four people were killed in the Greenville neighborhood of Jersey City in a horrific act of gun violence; and
WHEREAS, Detective Seals was a 40-year-old husband and father of five who had served with the Jersey City Police Department for 15 years and was a member of the Department's Cease Fire Unit, where he was part of a statewide anti-violence program aimed at limiting gun crimes through community outreach and the removal of illegal weapons from our streets; and
WHEREAS, Mindy Ferencz was a 33-year-old wife, mother of three, and co-owner of the Jersey Kosher Supermarket, and was known, along with her husband, as pioneers for relocating from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to Jersey City and opening their market to support the growing Jewish community in Greenville; and
WHEREAS, Moshe Deutsch was a 24-year-old rabbinical student from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who actively gave back to his community, in part by helping his father organize a food drive that fed approximately 2,000 local families during Passover over the last several years; and
WHEREAS, Douglas Miguel Rodriguez was a 49-year-old husband and father of one who recently emigrated from Ecuador and had been working at the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket for more than a year; and
WHEREAS, law enforcement's brave and immediate actions prevented further harm to innocent men, women, and children in the area; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey is one of the most diverse states in the nation and is strengthened by its diversity; and
WHEREAS, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal has stated that the evidence at this time suggests this was an act of hate and that this incident is being investigated as a potential act of domestic terror; and
WHEREAS, we unequivocally condemn any act of violence that sows seeds of division in our communities in the strongest possible terms; and
WHEREAS, we must make every effort to ensure that those who seek to do irreparable harm cannot readily access firearms and weapons of war; and
WHEREAS, this Administration is committed not only to mourning the victims and their families, but also to doing everything we can to end the epidemic of gun violence that plagues far too many of our communities;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
N.J. Admin. Code Executive Order No. 96 (2019)