New Jersey residents ripped the Marlboro Board of Education during a raucous, six-hour meeting this week, with many pushing the board to enact its existing civility policy after a vile group chat targeting a conservative female member came to light.
More than 100 people turned out for the Tuesday meeting in the leafy, liberal enclave, which was rocked after Facebook posts revealed five men — allegedly including board Vice President Chad Hyett and Mitesh Gandhi, the husband of a sitting board member — were involved in a group chat labeled, “ThisBitchNeedstoDie.”
The messages — which gained nationwide attention after being exposed by The Post, and outraged US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) — targeted MAGA-loving mom of three Danielle Bellomo and included the remark: “Bellomo must be cold — her nips could cut glass right n”.
The messages were revealed after someone snapped a photo of board candidate Scott Semaya’s phone as he allegedly typed the “nips” text, and allegedly captured on camera while Semaya’s fingers typed an “o.” Semaya quickly dropped out of the race for the board.
“Five men ganging up on a woman? That’s pathetic, in my mind. It made me sick to my stomach. It’s embarrassing. This is just 100 percent wrong. No apologies? What are we doing? Do the right thing,” Doug Moore, whose daughter is in kindergarten, told the board Tuesday night.
“These are not people who belong around children,” resident Eugene Genin said.
Resident Mark Chesler earned applause when he questioned if the board members “have the right set of morals and values to be entrusted with the responsibility this board holds.
“You continue to denigrate each other at every turn, and you do it with a twisted sense of pride,” he said, adding, “You aren’t concerned about the children, you are concerned about your personal agenda.”
In addition to Hyett, Gandhi and Semaya, former board candidate Nirav Kadakia and Lenny Thor were identified as taking part in the chat — which caught the attention of Cruz after The Post reported the controversy last week.
“This is wrong. And evil,” Cruz thundered on X.
After the public comments, the board ducked into executive session, from which Bellomo, 38, recused herself but Hyett and Gandhi didn’t, she said. The body later issued a statement calling the group chat “offensive.”
A vote to boot Hyett and Board President Brian Cohen, who is not believed to have participated in the chat, failed.
Bellomo and others questioned why the board hasn’t enacted its civility policy, which says the district will not tolerate threats against board members and allows for those who engage in disruptive behavior to be banned.
“They did not take any action to protect me and they did not take any action to speak out against the individuals who are involved, directly or indirectly,” she said of the superintendent and board president.
The Marlboro police department said Wednesday the text messages are under “active” investigation.
Bellomo told The Post afterwards that it was “powerful” to see that support — but added the public furor over the hateful messages has been difficult for her family.
“My kids are having a really hard time with this,” she said.
She said she’s faced threats for months, but declined to go into details.
“There are other communications out there with, in my opinion, just extremely terrifying messages,” she said. “There’s definitely additional information that police are in possession of.”
Superintendent Michael Ballone, Cohen and the alleged members of the group chat did not return messages seeking comment.
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