Dion Marsh Pleads Guilty to Hate Crimes, Assaults and Carjackings in 2022 Lakewood Antisemitic Rampage

By Matis Glenn

Dion Marsh, who pled guilty last week to terrorism charges related to a 2022 hate-filled attempted murder and carjacking spree in the Lakewood area, admitted in court Thursday to committing hate crimes against the victims and stealing cars. He faces the possibility of life in prison.

Marsh admitted to police at the time of the incidents that he was motivated by anti-Jewish malice in committing the seven crimes, which all took place on April 8 of 2022. He was arrested the same day.

“This defendant violently attacked 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,” Philip Sellinger, Attorney for the District of New Jersey said in a statement. “Today, he pleaded guilty to these hate crimes and a carjacking, and my office will ask the judge to impose a sentence that holds Marsh accountable for his brutal and hate filled rampage.

“The threat from hate-fueled violence is a sad reality across our state and our nation. That hate is not who we are. We are stronger as a people because no matter what you look like, how you worship, where you come from, or who you love, your civil rights must be respected and protected. My office has no higher priority than protecting the civil rights of our New Jersey residents.”

“This defendant is being held accountable for his series of depraved, antisemitic assaults against members of the Orthodox Jewish community,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Hate-filled acts of violence, intended to harm, intimidate and isolate communities, have no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic violence across our country.”

Marsh is due for sentencing on June 11. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for each of the four hate crimes violations charging him with attempting to kill victims, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the hate crime violation charging him with assaulting the other victim and a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for the carjacking charge. Each of the above charges carries a separate fine of up to $250,000.