A recent conversation with Andrew Bobbitt ended like many others with the Black political insider and mayoral aide fully defending Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora.

With virtually no way to escape a suspenseful one-on-one, Bobbitt responded to this assessment of his departing double boss: Reed is just a white dude from Princeton.

Identification does not need indignation. I am listed as a black man from Winslow who moved to Trenton over 40 years ago. We bring different experiences and expectations to this capital.

Both observations about Gusciora are believed to be true, with the former 15th District congressman entrenched in Princeton and neighboring politics until a voting area redraw moved Princeton to the 16th District in 2011. Gusciora has then moved to Trenton to retain its former seat, an act. of political opportunism. Had Gusciora remained at Princeton, he would have faced powerful Republicans Peter Biondi and Jack Ciattarelli – and potentially seen his political aspirations fade.

Thus, a sort of Princeton naivety exists in comments made by Gusciora regarding a Department of Justice investigation that determined that the Trenton Police Department and the City of Trenton engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Specifically, the Department of Justice found that TPD unlawfully used excessive force, including unreasonable forms of physical force and pepper spray, in the absence of any significant resistance or danger. TPD also conducts stops, searches, and arrests without reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Additionally, the department has identified gaps in training, supervision, policy and accountability that contribute to TPD and illegal city conduct.

A Trentonian article noted that Gusciora defended the officers and the department, saying the federal government presented “anecdotes” of cases of excessive force, but pointed out that the federal government did not identify any racial component in the findings. “It’s all about training and supervision,” Gusciora said.

Race matters in Trenton, and as a Caucasian mayor in a city where African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics make up 87% of the population, law enforcement’s dismissal of color-coded issues seems out of touch with reality . We can leave this matter unresolved until a later date. Let’s talk about this idea according to which the feds based their determinations on anecdotal situations.

Joseph Ahr, Sr. pepper-sprayed, manhandled and killed during an altercation in July 2020 with the Trenton police, is hardly anecdotal, especially since the circumstances of his death coincide with the police behavior identified in the federal complaint.

On July 6, 2020, police arrived at Ahr’s home after being called by her son. While the officers were talking to the son, Ahr came to the door and the situation escalated. Ofc. Nicholas Piotrowski eventually hit Ahr while others pepper-sprayed Ahr’s face. Ahr suffered a respiratory emergency. Police requested medical assistance, although Ahr died in a city hospital 18 days later. The medical examiner ruled it a homicide, saying Ahr died of “acute respiratory failure following the use of pepper spray during the arrest of a person with chronic lung disease and COVID-19.”

In January 2023, a state grand jury indicted Piotrowski for misconduct. An assessment offered by Attorney General Matt Platkin in a previous statement said Piotrowski “resorted to pepper spray during a confrontation with a civilian in a manner that was unnecessary and contrary to his training, mishandling a situation that could have end in a very different way. .”

Instead, Joseph Ahr, Sr. died on July 24.

Let’s be perfectly clear, Ahr, aka Ugg Mugg by his children and called Mookie or Itzy by his friends, neither lived nor died as an anecdote.

Gusciora is expected to stand in a room filled with Ahr’s children, four grandchildren, other family members and friends like Ellen, Gladys, Marshall Hall, Johnny and Daryl Andrews, “Ms. Patt,” Maria Pineda , Giovanni Rodriguez, Carlos Sanchez and Dayshawn Lane; tell them that Ugg Mugg remembers an anecdote.

When the Ahr family celebrates the fifth anniversary of Thanksgiving without Itzy, they will no doubt remember a guy who loved to cook, fish with his brother Charlie, watch sports, vacation in Wildwood, and listen to old-time music on his porch.

An obituary stated that Ahr, Sr. loved his family and frequently greeted them with a hug or kiss. He smiled often and loved making others happy.

LA Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at [email protected].