Man on Racist Rant Told People to Show Up at His House. So They Did.

Want the best of VICE News straight to your inbox? Sign up here.

If you’re going to go on a racist rant against your neighbor, don’t do it, but also don’t repeatedly scream your address at the person recording you and tell them to “Come fucking see” you.  

On Friday, a video went viral showing Edward Cagney Mathews, who is white, in an altercation with a Black man in front of his house in New Jersey. It’s unclear what the fight was about, but over the course of six minutes Mathews repeatedly refers to his neighbors as “monkeys” and “n------.” Mathews also repeatedly says his address, presumably as a challenge to the person recording him. “Come fucking see me,” Mathews tells the person recording his racist tirade. 

During the confrontation, a Mount Laurel police officer shows up, but Mathews calls the cop “Whitey” and tells him he has “no jurisdiction here,” adding, “Fuck you, go talk to the monkey n-----.” 

The community wasn’t pleased. As many as 150 people showed up Monday to protest outside of Mathews’ house, chanting “Come outside!” and “We want Edward,” according to multiple outlets.

“He said to pull up. We pulled up,” Aliya Robinson, a protester who lives nearby, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’re not going to tolerate this anymore.”

Mount Laurel police said that on Friday, a woman who lives on the same street as Mathews called to report “that she is continually harassed by” Mathews. 

He was arrested on Monday while the crowd protested outside his house, and charged with fourth-degree bias intimidation and trespassing, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Video shows Mount Laurel police officers shielding 45-year-old Mathews from the crowd as they lead him into a police cruiser. Another video taken on Monday shows Mount Laurel police in full riot gear as they move through the crowd. 

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said Monday evening that additional charges, including assault, had been filed against Mathews based on video evidence. "I want to especially commend the victim who showed incredible restraint with somebody spewing awful, vile things in his face. Assaulting him," Coffina said. "That's the subject of the additional charge today. That was on video."

Mathews offered a half-hearted apology on Monday night in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, saying he was drunk during the encounter. Mathews also claimed that he wasn’t a racist and added that “anybody that knows me know [sic] that I just talk like this.” 

“I certainly wasn’t expecting an encounter like that and certainly wasn’t expecting to disrespect anybody,” Mathews told the Inquirer. “Let me be clear: That is no excuse for what I said, but I lost my temper.”

Mathews also denied past harassment or vandalism allegations, but a woman who said she previously lived above Mathews shared a post to Facebook with video that shows a man she says is Mathews telling her he’s friends with the cops and that they won’t help her if she calls them. 

“He KICKED IN MY DOOR with numerous people present and Mount Laurel Police Department DID NOTHING,” the woman alleged. She also shared a photo of her car covered in spraypaint saying, “I am a [n-word] who sucks cocks.” 

VICE News was not able to reach Mathews for comment. 

South Burlington NAACP president Marcus Sibley told NJ.com that Mathews has been harassing Black neighbors for at least three years.

“When we say that we feel intimidated, we feel like we’re being hurt and harmed, we would love for the response to be ‘This is wrong. This is inhumane. This is disrespectful, and we are going to prosecute at the fullest extent of the law, so other people learn this isn’t how you treat people,’” Sibley told NJ.com. 

In a statement Monday, the Mt. Laurel Police defended itself and its handling of Mathews.

“The Mount Laurel Police Department does not tolerate hate or bias intimidation in any form. This type of behavior is totally unacceptable,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “We can assure our residents that incidents like this are thoroughly investigated and that those who commit such offenses will be held accountable for their actions.”