Long Branch files lawsuit against pop up party promoters

Long Branch has taken action in response to a pop up party last month that drew thousands to prevent a similar event from happening.

The city by the beach has filed a lawsuit against online promoters of a June 19 pop up party in a bid to stop a repeat of a similar event in May that drew a crowd of about 5,000 people, leading to several arrests, fights, and the closings of local businesses.

City of Long Branch files lawsuit

Long Branch officials want a judge to order the promoters to stop advertising next week’s event, which is set to start at noon and end “whenever”.

The lawsuit alleges that Wavell Thompson of East Orange, Kevin Small of Middlesex, Jayson Glasper of Tinton Falls Akeil T. Anderson, Semya Gill, and Jaylen Courten, a minor, failed to obtain a permit in violation of a local ordinance, created a public nuisance, negligence, and civil conspiracy.

“Using social media to spread flyers advertising the event and generate word-of-mouth awareness, these individuals, in particular Mr. Thompson, organized and encouraged as many attendees as possible to come to the City of Long Branch to drink, use drugs, fight and generally behave in a disorderly manner,” the city claims in their court filing,

Thompson allegedly has used multiple accounts on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook to “promote these events and encourage the destruction of property, fighting, public consumption of drugs and alcohol, and other illegal activities for their own commercial benefit and in violation of local ordinances and laws.”

Long Branch claims that Thompson was among those responsible for the May 21 pop-up party, where thousands of attendees “forced their way past the badge checkers to take over the beaches and the boardwalk area known as Pier Village.” They also claim some attendees harassed cars and pedestrians in the area.

According to the city, “the situation at the beach quickly escalated” and the crowds became too much for local police to handle on their own. Shortly before 7 PM, Long Branch elicited the help of police from neighboring towns, and by 7:15PM asked the State Police for assistance.

“In the ensuing chaos, a number of arrests were made while the focus shifted to attempting to disperse the crowds of young and intoxicated participants,” the city said in a court filing. “Businesses in the area were closed, the streets were shut down, and at some point during the evening individuals began vandalizing the area resulting in thousands of dollars of damages and store windows in Pier Village being smashed.”

Long Branch public safety director Domingos Saldida said in court filings non-permitted events put the city in danger and that organizers have not filled for the proper permit for the June 19 party. Saldida also said large gatherings are prohibited without a special event permit. In addition, all bags and coolers are subject to search and there is no smoking or alcohol use allowed on the beach or boardwalk, he said.

The lawsuit claims that many of the attendees used New Jersey Transit and “refused to pay the appropriate fare before exiting the train at Long Branch station.”

“New Jersey Transit workers were vastly outnumbered by the crowds and could do nothing to prevent them from exiting without payment,” the complaint alleges.

Rainone Coughlin Minchello is representing the city of Long Branch.