A 29-year-old Ocean County man received a 40-year prison sentence for his violent one-day spree against Orthodox Jewish men more than two years ago.
Dion Marsh of Manchester pleaded guilty in February to five charges of federal hate crimes and one count of carjacking in connection with his hours-long spree in Lakewood and Jackson, according to U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.
Marsh called Hasidic Jews “the real devils” after being caught and stated that the acts “had to be done,” according to a criminal complaint filed in his case.
Within two weeks of his arrest, there were accusations of hate crimes.
Sellinger said in a statement to reporters on Tuesday, “This defendant previously admitted to violently attacking 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.”
“Enough is enough—hate-fueled attacks on the Orthodox Jewish community are abhorrent, illegal, and contrary to our values as Americans,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated in the same release.
He was in a separate vehicle when he killed his second and third victims.
Marsh was then observed in the stolen automobile from his first known assault, where he struck a fourth victim before exiting and stabbing that man.
Marsh received a five-year supervised release sentence in addition to four decades in prison.
Marsh targeted these victims based on their clothing choices, which aligned with their religious beliefs, according to FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge James Dennehy.
Dennehy went on to say, “Hate crimes in our communities have become a noxious disease.” FBI Newark and our law enforcement partners will vigorously investigate anyone who abuses someone’s constitutionally protected civil rights to simply be themselves.”
Marsh has frequently disrupted his own court hearings with profanity-laced rants, including his detention hearing in 2022.
