Gov, mayor say official who called Jews ‘brutes’ should quit

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy joined Jersey City’s mayor Tuesday in calling for a school board member to quit over comments she made about the shooting at a kosher market, referring to Jews as “brutes” and questioning whether the shooters had a point to make in attacking Jews.

Murphy, a Democrat, tweeted hours after Jersey City Democratic Mayor Steven Fulop said that Board of Education member Joan Terrell Paige’s comments on the social media platform from the weekend “has no place in our schools.”

A message seeking comment was left with Paige. The comment appears to have been removed from Facebook, but was preserved in screenshots.

“We will not let anti-Semitism and hate go unchallenged in our communities,” the governor said. “I urge her to immediately resign from the Jersey City Board of Education.”

Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas said in an emailed statement that Paige does not reflect the views of the board and doesn’t speak for it. She was elected to the board last year.

Police: Man ignited Bible to steal from North Dakota Walmart

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A man poured lighter fluid on a Bible and ignited it at a Walmart in North Dakota in order to cause a distraction in hopes of stealing items from the store, according to a police affidavit.

The suspect was captured on surveillance video wearing a camouflage ski mask in the store in Bismarck where he went behind some boxes in the garden center area, the affidavit said. Soon a fire appears.

Court documents show 27-year-old Andrew Ells is charged with felony arson and endangering by fire or explosion. The documents don’t list an attorney for him.

The affidavit doesn’t explain why he used a Bible in starting the fire. He left the store through an emergency exit. It wasn’t clear if he stole anything.

Store officials told police that the loss of merchandise to smoke damage is estimated at $300,000, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

Ells is being held in the Burleigh Morton Detention Center on $25,000 cash bail.