Disgraced NJ mayor told police to keep Black people out of Clark, officials say

🔴 Lawsuit makes claims of years of racially targeted policing in Clark under former Mayor Sal Bonaccorso

🔴 Audio recordings capture the mayor using racial slurs and directing police to stop Black and Hispanic drivers

🔴 State officials say the discrimination violated New Jersey’s civil rights laws

CLARK — Police in this town relentlessly harassed Black residents for years under orders from then-Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, according to a civil rights lawsuit that includes audio recordings of him.

Bonaccorso's racism had a grapple hold over the police department before it was superseded by the Union County Prosecutor's Office in 2020, according to the lawsuit filed by the state Division on Civil Rights on Thursday.

Court documents said police officers were expressly instructed to target Black and Hispanic drivers for traffic stops. In audio recordings, Bonaccorso repeatedly used derogatory slurs when referring to Black people, including the n-word and "spooks."

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The systemic discrimination was explicitly meant to keep non-white people out of Clark Township, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

Despite making up less than 15% of the population in Clark, over 45% of the drivers stopped just outside of Clark's municipal boundaries were Black or Hispanic, according to Platkin.

"Through overt racial animus and discriminatory policing practices, Clark violated New Jersey’s civil rights laws and the New Jersey Constitution," Platkin said.

Clark mayor pushes back against civil rights complaint

The current mayor of Clark said the lawsuit was a "frivolous" move from the outgoing Platkin. Mayor Angel Albanese was sworn into office last year.

"The Clark Township Police Department strives every day to serve our residents and visitors with utmost professionalism, respect and integrity, and will continue to do so," Albanese said in a statement.

As for the audio tapes, Albanese said they were the "unfortunate and reprehensible comments of a handful of Police Department employees that occurred nearly a decade ago."

Audio recordings capture racist directives from former mayor

Some of those recorded comments from Bonaccorso, taken word for word from court documents, include:

🔴 “[Y]ou know why a lot of liberals stay out of Clark, is we’re labeled as a racist town and they want nothing to do with that... [T]hey try to stay away from Clark because labeled [sic] a racist town. You guys keep doing your job so we don’t have no problems.”

🔴 "Good for you, pulling over that n***** — keep them out of town.”

🔴 “Keep chasing the spooks out of town.”

🔴 “Where we f******  hang the spooks up here.”

Bonaccorso’s fall from power after a landslide reelection

Despite the audio tapes, Bonaccorso won reelection in a landslide. In November 2024, Clark residents chose him for a seventh term on a 2-to-1 margin.

However, Bonaccorso pleaded guilty to official misconduct and forgery in late 2024.

In January 2025, he was forced to resign with just days left in his sixth term. The mayor said that he resigned for health reasons.

In March 2025, just weeks after Bonaccorso left office, control of the Clark Police Department was finally returned to the township. The UCPO had run its affairs for five years.

While Bonaccorso said liberals stay out of Clark because of its reputation as a "sundown town," there are plenty of other places in New Jersey that don't have that reputation.

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