SOMA Against Hate Collective Statement in response to racist attack on 5/8/2020

The members of the SOMA Against Hate Collective were incensed by the racist incident that occurred almost a month ago in South Orange. On Friday, May 8th, Maplewood resident C.J. Burgess came to assist her father, Aubrey Burgess, with his stalled car outside of his business on South Orange Avenue. As C.J. was in the process of jumpstarting Aubrey’s car, Ryan Pogany drove up and began berating them for blocking his ability to make deliveries for Bunny’s restaurant, where he is employed. His tirade escalated from profanity to xenophobia, as Pogany told Aubrey Burgess…