Outgoing NJ Governor Pardons Jewish Man Charged After Defending Synagogue Attendee

Outgoing NJ Governor Pardons Jewish Man Charged After Defending Synagogue Attendee

As a parting act on his last day in office, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy granted clemency to Moshe Glick, the Jewish activist who faced criminal prosecution after he came to the rescue of another worshiper attacked by an anti-Israel protester outside his West Orange synagogue in November 2024.

The Jewish Link reports:

It brought to a climax an ordeal that began Nov. 13, 2024 when prosecutors alleged Glick attacked a pro-Palestinian demonstrator who was part of a gathering that had come to protest against an event at Congregation Ohr Torah promoting the sale of property in Israel.

‘Today, I am profoundly grateful and relieved to share that the baseless charges brought against me by rogue prosecutors in Essex County have been dropped in my favor,’ said Glick in a statement to supporters. ‘What began as an act of defending a fellow Jew from violent assault outside our synagogue has ended with the truth prevailing.’

Glick and David (Solomon) Silberberg of Millburn were charged with bias intimidation, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and possession of a weapon. The bias intimidation charge against Glick was dropped.

…

In just over one year the case snowballed into large community rallies to support Glick, an indictment by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office being tossed after being ruled defective, and an arraignment on the second indictment postponed because the judge failed to show. At the latest arraignment before Judge Patrick Arres on Jan. 14, a hearing had been scheduled for May 5 to determine whether the case against Glick and Silberberg was again defective and should be dismissed.

Glick’s attorney Michael Bachner had told The Jewish Link he believed there was a ‘strong’ case for dismissal of all charges.

We reported on the violent clash last year, after the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act lawsuit against the protesters who disrupted the synagogue event—marking the first time the government invoked the law’s protections for places of worship in a federal complaint.

Enacted in 1994, the FACE Act makes it illegal to block access to reproductive health care facilities, including abortion clinics. The Act also protects houses of worship, prohibiting the use of force, threats of force, or physical obstruction to intentionally injure, intimidate, or interfere with any person lawfully exercising or seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom at a place of religious worship.

The DOJ lawsuit filed last September in the New Jersey federal district court named local chapters of the national Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). Protester Altaf Sharif, Glick’s alleged victim, was also named as a defendant. The government asks the court to restrict its access to the synagogue and Glick’s home and seeks monetary damages.

In a YouTube video provided by Glick and embedded in the earlier post, Sharif is seen tackling Silberberg to the ground, keeping him in a chokehold as they roll down a hill. Believing Silberberg’s life was in danger, Glick then appears to intervene to rescue him.

While Sharif—so far—has gotten off scot-free following the riots, Glick’s indictment last June on criminal charges sparked communal outrage. Glick was forced to fight an unjust legal battle that cast the aggressor, Sharif, as the “victim,” his supporters said. The charges set a “dangerous precedent for how Jews are treated in the legal system amidst rising anti-Semitism.”

After learning that the charges against him will finally be dropped, Glick told the Jewish Link, “his focus was now shifting to internal misconduct complaints filed against West Orange Police over the incident. He planned to meet shortly with his attorneys to discuss the next steps in that matter.”

Glick’s victory comes as the DOJ is once again invoking the FACE Act to prosecute the protesters who ambushed last week’s church services in Minnesota, as Mary wrote here.

The government’s first-ever FACE Act lawsuit to protect a house of worship focused attention on the injustice to Glick, leading to the pardon, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a post on X celebrating his win:

I’m so glad that our first-ever ⁦@TheJusticeDept⁩ FACE Act case to protect a house of worship brought attention to this injustice and led to ⁦@GovMurphy⁩ issuing this pardon. Credit where due to him and congrats to Moshe Glick and family! pic.twitter.com/JL0MDiHfLM

— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) January 22, 2026

And now, the FACE Act is “making national headlines and being utilized to help others facing similar situations, ” Glick said in a statement read by one of his supporters on YouTube. He thanked Dhillon and the DOJ “for having the fortitude to protect religious freedom … utilizing the FACE Act.”

“This was never about crime,” he said. “It was about gross overreach, selective prosecution, and an attempt to criminalize Jewish self-defense amid rising antisemitism.”

Featured image via YouTube.

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