PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Mount Laurel man caught on video spouting a racist tirade at his neighbors is facing more charges.
In July, 45-year-old Edward Mathews was charged with harassment, bias intimidation and related charges, after a video of him shouting slurs at his neighbors — who, notably, are mostly minorities — went viral.
The new charges stem from another threatening incident. According to FBI handwriting analysis, officials say Mathews left a threatening note on one of his neighbor’s cars in January — which was also smeared with feces.
After the video of Mathews went viral, a massive protest formed outside his house just days later. Four of those protesters are now charged with spitting on, throwing objects at, or pepper-spraying Mathews and police officers as they took him into custody that day.
Police say 48-year-old Tawanda Jones of Camden pepper-sprayed the officers; 25-year-old Daniel Harris of Beverly threw a brick-like object through Mathews’ window; 21-year-old Christopher Staples of Pemberton threw rocks and struck a police car; and, 18-year-old Khalil Wilson of Mount Laurel spit on officers while standing on top of a car.
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“The outrage sparked by Mathews’ conduct on the viral video does not give permission to anyone to commit unprovoked assaults upon police officers or acts of vandalism,” Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said in a statement.
The prosecutor’s office also released its internal review of the police department’s handling of neighbors’ complaints. More than 40 complaints were made about Mathews between July 2016 and this summer. The review found that no officer favored Mathews, nor did the department fail to investigate or dismiss neighbors’ complaints.
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It also admitted the police department handled complaints on a case-by-case basis, “rather than taking a problem-oriented approach.”
The entire report, which also includes the charges against Mathews, is attached below.
In all, Mathews faces 22 separate charges. He is currently held in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly.