Out-of-town Trump diehards furious over new parking rules near NJ golf club

BEDMINSTER – A Township Committee got nasty this week as officials voted to restrict parking on a street where Trump devotees have gathered for weekend political rallies for the past eight years.

The street runs past the public library to a residential development. It is 4 miles from the 535-acre Trump National Golf Club, where the former president spends considerable time each year despite his official residence in Florida and signature digs in Manhattan.

Flag and bullhorn-toting Trump supporters have been parking along Clucas Brook Road, even during President Joe Biden's term.

From there, they walk to the town's designated "free speech zone" at the corner of Lamington Road and Route 206, where they and the occasional Trump opponents regularly let their voices be heard.

On Monday, with the parking ordinance on the agenda of the Bedminster Township Committee, several rally attendees said a parking restriction would infringe on their First Amendment rights.

Of the 12 speakers during the public comment period, just three were Bedminster residents.

A committeeman chastised one member of the public for telling a resident to “go back to China”

Trump supporters claim political persecution

During public comments, about 25 minutes into the public meeting, which was streamed on YouTube, the first man to speak was a Waretown resident.

He said the safety concerns appeared to come “out of thin air” after years of Trump supporters parking there.

“I drive two hours to come support my president,” the man said. “I’m not here to create waves, I’m just here to wave flags.”

Teresa “Terry” Beck, of Hillsborough, said she has been working with Trump’s organization for six years, organizing Trump train caravans and motorcycle rides.

Beck, who has dubbed the Bedminster intersection "Trump's Corner," said she and others suspect political persecution in the move to curb parking.

“You should all be ashamed of yourselves that you are standing in the way of patriots," a man from Woodbridge told the Township Committee.

His wife said they were patriots being bullied, persecuted and harassed.

“We understand it was a nice quiet little community but things change, just like we’re always told, things change and you gotta get used to it,” she said.

A woman from Chester said that Bedminster would face bigger safety concerns when protesters have to cross Lamington Road or walk a greater distance to the designated corner.

A Hillsborough resident with the group New Jersey Flaggers said the rallies have remained respectful and peaceful.

A woman from Manville called the proposed parking rule from the all-Republican Township Committee “disgraceful.”

“The fact that you guys are Republicans and are supposed to be on our side, it’s making it very confusing for a lot of people here this evening," she said. "Because we’re also feeling that you guys really aren’t really supporting the president by doing this to us."

A man who said he lives in Peapack-Gladstone gave the name Hank Mardukas, which is also a fictional character in the 2009 comedy, “I Love You Man.”

“Donald Trump told us not to stop fighting — I take that literally,” he said.

“So think about what you’re doing, because you’re going to awaken a sleeping monster in this town,” he said, adding that he and like-minded Trump supporters would be ready to wave flags in Bedminster's liberal neighborhoods.

“Trump Derangement Syndrome — it’s a real thing," he said.

Bedminster residents spoke at the end.

One of them asked if there were any other parking options that the town could suggest.

A Bedminster man said his kids ride their bikes on the road to the library, where a long line of parked cars causes a visibility issue. His remarks were interrupted by the crowd at least twice.

It was at this moment that Committeeman Douglas Stevinson called out a Waretown man for making the racist "go back to China" comment,  although it was not picked up by the recording.

The Ocean County man erupted into angry profanity and threatened Stevinson, saying he’d be by his house and would see him later.

Another Bedminster man then spoke in support of the parking regulations.

“No one has had the quiet enjoyment of their property impacted more by the township-established free speech zone than I have," the Lamington Road resident said.

"For the last eight years, my Saturday mornings have been routinely disrupted by rowdy out-of-towners from both sides of the political aisle, who have no regard for my neighborhood," he said.

The man said protesters yelled profanities during his granddaughter’s backyard baptism during the pandemic.

A Netcong man, however, likened weekend rally noise to summertime barbecues

“It’s not the end of the world," he said. "We all want peace and quiet but geez, you can’t always have it.”

Unanimous vote for parking ordinance

Stevinson said the ordinance was strictly about parking, not politics.

“I don’t want to say uninformed, but perhaps you’re uninformed. You’re talking about rights to get to a spot that you have no right to occupy,” he said.

“Our role up here is to support Bedminster residents,” Mayor Lawrence Jacob said.

“You cannot put a political thumb on gatherings and so we don’t,” he said, before the unanimous vote.