Sussex County Republican Chairman Joseph LaBarbera says he will not step aside following his arrest on gun-related charges, offering a detailed defense of his actions and insisting that he never pointed a firearm at another motorist or threatened anyone.
“I have no intention of resigning as chairman because of false accusations, nor will I,” LaBarbera said in a letter to members of the Sussex County Republican Committee.
LaBarbera acknowledged that he partially drew his legally carried handgun during Saturday’s roadside encounter, but said he did so only after hearing what he believed was a threat that he would be shot.
“I did not point my firearm at anyone,” he said.
LaBarbera’s account, his most extensive since his arrest, differs sharply from the allegations against him. He faces four charges: possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, endangering a child by a non-caretaker, aggravated assault with a firearm and unjustified display of a firearm by a gun permit carrier. He pleaded not guilty Monday and Municipal Court Judge Glenn Gavan released him.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
LaBarbera said the encounter began Saturday afternoon as he was driving home after attending a football game at his children’s school.
Several miles from his home, LaBarbera said, he encountered a large SUV with tinted windows stopped in the roadway with its hazard lights activated. He slowed down, and after the vehicle moved toward the side of the road, LaBarbera said he stopped alongside it and rolled down his passenger-side window.
He said he wanted to see whether the motorist needed help.
Instead, according to LaBarbera, the driver responded angrily with profanity and insults.
“I had no interest in arguing and began to leave,” LaBarbera said. “I did not engage the driver with curse words/arguing.”
LaBarbera said he did not know the other motorist and suggested the driver might have initially mistaken him for someone else.
Then, LaBarbera said, the encounter took a more serious turn.
“I then heard words that I understood as a threat that I would be shot,” he said.
LaBarbera, who has a concealed-carry permit, said he believed the other motorist might be armed.
“At that moment, I believed I was confronting a potentially armed individual,” he said.
LaBarbera said he placed his hand on his firearm and “partially drew it” while trying to determine whether the other driver had a weapon.
He emphatically denied pointing it.
When he was able to see both of the driver’s hands and no longer saw evidence of an immediate threat, LaBarbera said he put the firearm away.
“When I thereafter could see both of the driver’s hands and concluded that there was no immediately visible weapon, I secured my firearm in the vehicle and the other driver saw it,” he said.
LaBarbera said the other motorist became “hysterical” after seeing the gun.
He said he placed the firearm in his vehicle’s center console because he intended to contact police and did not want to be armed when officers arrived.
LaBarbera said he then put distance between himself and the other vehicle, turned around when it was safe, and called 911.
The other driver was apparently contacting authorities at roughly the same time, LaBarbera said.
According to LaBarbera, a dispatcher told him to go to a designated location and wait for State Police. He said he complied and that troopers later interviewed the two motorists separately before arresting him.
Authorities have alleged that LaBarbera pointed the handgun at the other driver. State Police said the other vehicle also contained a juvenile passenger and that neither occupant was injured.
LaBarbera categorically rejected that account.
“My account has remained consistent — I did not point a firearm at anyone. I did not threaten anyone. I did not menace anyone,” he said. “I reacted to what I understood to be a threat to my life, and when I determined that the immediate danger did not appear to be present, I secured my firearm, withdrew from the encounter, and immediately contacted law enforcement.”
LaBarbera said his attorneys would challenge the charges in court and that he would not attempt to litigate the criminal case through social media or political statements.
“I have confidence in them and that process,” he said.
But LaBarbera was unequivocal about the political question surrounding his future.
State Sen. Parker Space (R-Wantage), Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-Franklin), Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (R-Chester), and all five Republican Sussex County commissioners — Jill Space, Jack DeGroot, Chris Carney, Alan Henderson and David Silverthorne — issued a joint statement asking LaBarbera to take a leave of absence and allow Vice Chairman Billy Marotta to temporarily run the organization.
“For the good of the party, we believe the chairman should focus on this serious legal and personal matter, step aside, and allow the vice chair to temporarily lead the party and let the county committee make the best long-term decision,” they said.
LaBarbera rejected their request.
“You elected me to serve a term, and I intend to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to me while respecting the needs of my family and the demands of this legal matter,” he told county committee members.
But he is making what amounts to a temporary reduction in his day-to-day role.
LaBarbera said his family had been “deeply affected” by the events of the last several days and that he needed to devote time to them and to preparing his defense.
“Our organization was deliberately built so that it did not depend upon one person,” he said.
For the remainder of the campaign, LaBarbera said Marotta will take on additional responsibility for campaign operations and implementing the strategy already established by the county organization. Tony Teora will focus on fundraising and financial support for Republican candidates, while Rachel Kelly and Gene Pantalone will assume greater responsibility for communications, requests, and routine committee operations.
“I will remain Chairman,” LaBarbera said. “I will remain available to our leadership team, our candidates, and our Committee for important decisions. But I will temporarily reduce the enormous volume of daily calls, meetings, and routine matters that normally occupy much of my time.”
LaBarbera said the criminal case would not change the county organization’s political mission during the final weeks of the campaign.
“We will continue supporting our Republican candidates. We will continue strengthening our municipal committees. We will continue raising the resources necessary to compete,” he said.
LaBarbera, a military veteran who served in Kosovo and Afghanistan, was elected county chairman in 2023, defeating Candice Smith, 66-59, to succeed Jerry Scanlan. He won another term last year with 70% of the vote, defeating former County Commissioner Earl Schick, 63-27.
He disclosed that even before his arrest, he had been considering whether to seek another term as chairman. LaBarbera said he has not decided and expects to address his political future next spring.
“For today, my responsibility is much simpler — to defend myself through the legal process, care for my family, and continue fulfilling the responsibilities you entrusted to me as your Chairman,” he said.
LaBarbera acknowledged that Republican county committee members could reach different conclusions about the allegations while the case is pending, but urged them to reserve judgment until the evidence is presented.
“I ask only that you allow the evidence and the judicial process — not rumor, social media, or political hostility — determine the truth,” he said.
LaBarbera went further in his closing remarks, saying he believes the case ultimately will establish that the allegations against him were manufactured.
“I think that you will all eventually see this incident for what it is,” he said, calling it “pure fabrication and character assassination by an individual I do not know and never met.”