November 11, 2022
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Middle Township police are looking for a woman who hung three stuffed animals from nooses above a campaign sign for Tim Alexander, a Black man who ran for Congress in South Jersey and lost to Rep. Jeff Van Drew.
Investigators in South Jersey are looking for the woman who hung three stuffed animals from nooses on a tree above a campaign sign for Tim Alexander, a Black man who ran for a U.S. House seat in Tuesday's election.
Video shows a blonde-haired woman exiting a dark-colored car – possibly a Buick – on Election Day and hanging the toys above the political sign in Middle Township, according to the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office. Investigators are looking into the incident as a possible hate crime.
Alexander, a Democrat, was defeated by incumbent U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican, in the election for New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District. In an interview with NBC10, Alexander called the incident "really disgusting."
"It really spoke to what I have been talking about on the campaign trail," Alexander said. "And that is that we have too much division. We have too much tribalism. We have this sense of us against them."
After Middle Township officials became aware of the incident, Mayor Tim Donohue condemned the act in a Facebook post. The Republican pledged that authorities would conduct a thorough investigation and provide updates.
"This is not who we are in Middle Township," Donohue wrote. "We stand united against all forms of racism, hate, threats, and intimidation. If this investigation proves charges are warranted, the perpetrator(s) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Cape May Court House, New Jersey - Cape May County Prosecutor Jeffrey H. Sutherland and Chief Christopher Leusner of the...
Posted by Cape May County Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Alexander, a lawyer, spent years working for the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and the Philadelphia Solicitor's Office before moving to private practice.
Anyone with information about the incident can contact the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office at (609) 465-1135 or Middle Township police at (609) 465-8700. Information also can be reported anonymously through the prosecutor's office's tip system.
