Man admits violent hate crimes against Orthodox Jews in New Jersey

A New Jersey man admitted to a series of violent hate crimes, for driving his car into a group of people and stabbing one because they were Jewish.

Dion Marsh, 29, from Manchester, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in a federal court hearing in Trenton on Thursday to four counts of committing hate crimes and one of carjacking. He faces being sentenced to life in prison later this year.

He was charged with willfully causing bodily injury to five victims, and attempting to kill and cause injuries with dangerous weapons to four of them in 2022 in and around Lakewood, New Jersey, because they were Jewish, the United States Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The case comes as tensions continue to run high across the U.S. due to the ongoing Israel-Gaza war, which has been linked to a rise in discrimination and violent crimes against both Jews and Muslims.

“This defendant violently attacked five men, driving a car into four of them, stabbing one of them in the chest, and attempting to kill them, simply because they were visibly identifiable as Orthodox Jews," U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said in the statement.

Sellinger said his office would push for a sentence that "holds Marsh accountable for his brutal and hate-filled rampage."

He continued: "The threat from hate-fueled violence is a sad reality across our state and our nation. That hate is not who we are."

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said Marsh had admitted to a "series of depraved, antisemitic assaults against members of the Orthodox Jewish community."

Special Agent James E. Dennehy of the FBI said that while hating someone was not a crime, attacking them because of that hate is.

"Personal beliefs don’t give someone the right to attack and attempt to kill another human being because they may not ascribe to a similar religion or way of life," Dennehy said.

At 1:18 p.m on April 8, 2022, Marsh forced a man dressed in traditional Jewish Orthodox dress out of his car, assaulting and harming him in the process, before driving away in the man's car.

Later the same day at 5:20 p.m. and 6:06 p.m. Marsh struck two people in Orthodox Jewish dress while driving another car in Lakewood, in what the U.S. Attorney's Office called attempts to kill. The second victim suffered several broken bones.

At 6:55 p.m. Marsh again attempted to strike and kill another man in Orthodox Jewish dress who was out walking in Lakewood — this time driving the car he stole earlier — before getting out of the car and stabbing him in the chest.

A fourth victim, visibly identifiable as an Orthodox Jewish man, was struck in nearby Jackson Township with the same stolen car at 8:23 p.m., causing broken bones and internal injuries, in what authorities said was a fourth attempt to kill.

Marsh will be sentenced on June 11. The hate crimes charging him with attempts to kill carry a sentence of up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine.