Pemberton Township mayor runs at resident during council meeting; resident seeks charges

The mayor of Pemberton Township, N.J., ran at a resident during a township council session on Wednesday evening before people in the room restrained him, according to 6abc Action News and NBC10 Philadelphia, which both reported on video of the episode.

On Thursday, the resident, Michael Sawka, went to municipal court and asked that Mayor Matthew Bianchini be charged with assault and making terroristic threats, both stations reported. 6abc said local police had not indicated whether they would act on the request. NBC10 said the department did not answer its questions.

A Pine Barrens Tribune reporter recorded the moment. As others led Bianchini out, he yelled at Sawka, using an expletive, that he was "getting" him, according to both outlets. CBS Philadelphia also broadcast footage and said the cause of the outburst was unclear.

At the time, council was hearing an appeal from the Burlington County township's community development director, who had recently been dismissed, NBC10 reported. The station said some residents who disagreed with the dismissal spoke up loudly.

The two men describe the lead-up differently. According to 6abc, Bianchini and relatives said Sawka and a second resident directed rude remarks at the mayor's wife and daughter, who sat near the rear of the room. Bianchini told NBC10 that Sawka gestured at his daughter and then made a vulgar gesture at him. 6abc reported that township video posted to YouTube shows Sawka motioning in the family's direction before directing a vulgar gesture at Bianchini.

Sawka told 6abc he said nothing to the family, that they started talking first and that he only waved his hand. "I never got up. I sat there the whole time," he told the station.

Speaking Thursday, Bianchini called his behavior wrong but justified. He told 6abc he regretted the threat and would not hurt anyone, yet he told NBC10, "I don't apologize for last night at all." NBC10 reported that he does not think criminal charges are warranted.

Bianchini, who was appointed earlier this year after the previous mayor resigned, told 6abc that Sawka has harassed him and his family both online and face to face. Sawka, a part-time lawyer according to NBC10, told 6abc he aims to expose what he sees as wasted township money and said the mayor's relatives go after him online.

Sawka said he wants the mayor to quit and leave politics permanently, and he told NBC10 he might withdraw the complaint if that happened. Bianchini is a candidate in the November election and does not intend to step aside, NBC10 reported.

Compiled by True News from reporting by 6abc Action News, CBS Philadelphia and NBC10 Philadelphia. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/367