Faced with rebellious Republicans, state police selectively shut down statehouse entrances

A small group of Assembly Republicans attempted to once again evade the statehouse’s vaccine-or-test mandate this morning, but were foiled by a new State Police policy: shut down any entrance that someone attempts to enter uncooperatively.

The group of legislators – which included Assemblymembers Brian Bergen (R-Denville), Robert Auth (R-Old Tappan), Gerard Scharfenberger (R-Middletown), Serena DiMaso (R-Holmdel), Erik Peterson (R-Franklin), and Jay Webber (R-Morris Plains) – first tried to enter via the statehouse annex’s main entrance. As News 12 New Jersey’s Alex Zdan reported, a number of state troopers prevented them from even reaching the front door.

After conferring briefly, the legislators split up, with a small number leaving to try and enter via the garage entrance. They were once again stopped, but this time Bergen chose to make his protest of the mandate permanent, and began camping out in front of the garage entrance.

From then on, the state police completely closed the garage entrance, even to those who showed proof of vaccination or testing. A small group of Republican senators, among them State Sens. Kip Bateman (R-Branchburg), Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville), and Kristin Corrado (R-Totowa), were among those barred from entering; they appeared to briefly consider joining Bergen in protest, but soon left to enter elsewhere.

“As far as we’re concerned, it still constitutes arrest that we’re not able to get in there,” Bergen said of his inability to enter the statehouse. “But that’s going to be up to the judge.”

According to Bergen, the Republican legislators are currently attempting to get a restraining order against the attorney general and nullify the mandate, but even if an order is given, it may not come in time for today’s Assembly voting session at 1 p.m. Nevertheless, Bergen said that he does not intend to relent, and will find another way to vote in the session if he still cannot enter the statehouse.

“If I can’t get in, I’ll do the voting session remotely,” he said. “I’m certainly not complying, I can tell you that much.”

In the weeks since Republican Assemblymembers first bucked the vaccine policy on December 2, the legislature has continued functioning in stalemate; most Republican senators have abided by the mandate, while Assembly committee hearings have either been entirely remote or saw most Republicans vote by phone. A court case to determine the constitutionality of the mandate has been set for April.

Today’s protest also features another new factor: the Omicron variant, a highly contagious variant of Covid that has caused cases to spike across the country.