MAYORAL MELTDOWN

Republican Mayor Charges at Resident in Fuming Meltdown Video

“Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it justified? Absolutely,” the mayor said.

A New Jersey township meeting descended into chaos when a Republican mayor charged at a man and threatened him.

Dramatic video footage, filmed by a Pine Barrens Tribune reporter, shows Pemberton Township Mayor Matthew Bianchini being restrained and then escorted out of the room after he ran toward resident Michael Sawka on Wednesday night.

Several people, including a councilman, had to intervene after an irate Bianchini rushed from behind his desk in the council chambers and bolted toward Sawka, a frequent and vocal critic of the mayor.

“I am getting you, I am f---ing getting you!” Bianchini said as he was escorted out of the council chambers.

Sawka then demanded that Bianchini be arrested for threatening him.

“He just threatened me! That is on video! That is on audio,” Sawka said. “I want the police here to arrest him for that threat. That is assault!”

Another man seated near Sawka then suggested that he leave. “Every meeting you got something stupid to say,” he added.

Bianchini’s outburst came after Sawka allegedly badmouthed and disrespected the mayor’s wife and daughter, who were seated at the back of the room, before allegedly making an obscene gesture toward Bianchini.

“Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it justified? Absolutely. And I would do it again if I had to,” Bianchini told WPVI. “Don’t attack my family. I think any good husband, any good father, would’ve done just what I did.”

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Sawka denied making any disrespectful comments or gestures toward the mayor’s wife and daughter during the meeting.

“His family behind us started saying stuff. I turn around, and I start waving my hands, like kinda just—why don’t you all just shut up? I didn’t even say a word; I just was waving my hand,” he said.

Sawka added to the Pine Barrens Tribune that the incident could have been worse if it had escalated further.

“One punch and then I would have gotten up and taken him down,” he said.

Sawka is also calling for Bianchini to resign over the outburst.

This was not the first time Bianchini, who has been in office since January, had a furious confrontation during a council meeting.

In May, Bianchini told Councilman Joshua Ward to “shut the f--- up” during a dispute about the budget, the Pine Barrens Tribune reported.

The Daily Beast has contacted Mayor Matthew Bianchini’s office for comment.

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