New Jersey man pleads guilty to hate crimes after antisemitic attack spree

After a series of violent assaults against five members of the Orthodox Jewish community in 2022, New Jersey man Dion Marsh has pleaded guilty in federal court, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey announced Thursday.

On April 8, 2022, then 27-year-old Marsh carried out a series of violent assaults on members of the Orthodox Jewish Community in and around Lakewood, New Jersey. Marsh was charged with five counts of willfully causing bodily injury to five victims, and attempting to kill and cause injuries with dangerous weapons to four of them.

The violent crime spree included assault, carjacking and attempting to kill four people while driving both the stolen car and another vehicle as well as stabbing a man with a knife because they were Jewish, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

All five of Marsh's victims were wearing traditional garments worn by members of the Orthodox Jewish community.

"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," Sellinger said in the press release.

Marsh's series of hate crimes on April 8, 2022, are detailed below.

• At 1:18 p.m., Marsh forced a visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man out of his car, assaulting and injuring him. Marsh took control of the man's car and drove away.
• At 5:20 p.m., Marsh was in Lakewood, New Jersey, driving a different car when he deliberately struck another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man with the vehicle, attempting to kill the victim.
• At 6:06 p.m., Marsh used that second vehicle to deliberately strike another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man, attempting to kill the victim and causing him to suffer several broken bones.
• At 6:55 p.m., Marsh, once again driving the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, attempted to kill another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man who was walking in Lakewood by deliberately striking him with the vehicle. Marsh got out of the vehicle and stabbed the man in the chest with a knife, causing the victim to suffer a stab wound and other injuries.
• At 8:23 p.m., Marsh, still driving the vehicle that he had stolen from the first victim, used it to deliberately strike another visibly identifiable Orthodox Jewish man who was walking in nearby Jackson Township, New Jersey, attempting to kill the man and causing him to suffer several broken bones and internal injuries.

Police arrested Marsh later that night at his home in Manchester, New Jersey, authorities announced, at the time.

All of the victims survived the attacks but three were hospitalized at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center and one victim, who sustained serious injuries, was transferred to a rehabilitation facility after being treated at the medical center, according to police.

Marsh was charged with four counts of violating the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and was charged with one count of carjacking.

The U.S. attorney said the four hate crimes violations charging Marsh with attempting to kill those victims each carry a statutory maximum term of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The hate crime violation charging Marsh with assaulting the other victim carries a statutory maximum term of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The carjacking charge carries a statutory maximum term of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

"This defendant is being held accountable for his series of depraved, antisemitic assaults against members of the Orthodox Jewish community," Assistant Attorney General Clarke said in the release. "Hate-filled acts of violence, intended to harm, intimidate and isolate communities, have no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic violence across our country."

Marsh is scheduled to be sentenced on June 11, 2024.