Protesters march after cop found not guilty in teen’s beating

Protesters took to the streets Sunday night to voice their displeasure surrounding a recent court decision in favor of a Carteret police officer who had been accused of assaulting a teenager during a 2017 arrest.

Participants said between 50 and 100 people turned out to march in protest of the not guilty decision in the case against Carteret Police Officer Joseph Reiman, who was acquitted last week of assault and misconduct charges stemming from an altercation with then 16-year-old Monte Stewart during an arrest after a car chase.

Reiman is the brother of Carteret Mayor Dan Reiman.

The protesters met at Chrome Park, went up to Roosevelt Avenue to the Carteret Police Department, and then back to the park. Video of the march was streamed on Facebook.

Fred Gattuso was one of the people participating in the march. The former Carteret mayoral candidate said he hopes the protest sends a message to the mayor.

“The residents are tired and fed up,” Gattuso said.

“There were a lot more people that weren’t there from this town that are fed up with what’s going on here. ... We need justice for Monte and all of the victims of Joe Reiman, and this needs to be the last.”

During the trial, Reiman’s attorney, Charles Sciarra, argued that the officer used the appropriate amount of force against Stewart.

“We are eternally grateful to this jury who came together and spent the most time of anybody reviewing the facts of this case,” he said following the jury’s decision.

Gattuso added more marches are planned to take place in the borough, including at council meetings.

“For being put together on a short-term notice like this, it was a good turnout,” Gattuso said. “There are going to be more marches, and they are going to grow and have bigger turnouts.”

Reiman was acquitted on aggravated assault, official misconduct, and falsifying police report charges. The jury took seven hours to deliberate.

Stewart filed a civil lawsuit filed against Reiman and Carteret. Stewart’s lawsuit is one of four against the police officer for alleged excessive use of force.

Alex Napoliello contributed to this report.

Chris Franklin can be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @cfranklinnews or on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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