A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by South Jersey mother Nadia Baxter accuses Monroe Township police officer Michael Marsh and several institutional defendants of false arrest, malicious prosecution and fabricating evidence. The complaint alleges Marsh grabbed Baxter by the arm and neck, shoved her into lobby chairs and put her in a chokehold twice after she came to Williamstown High School with menstrual products for her daughter.
The encounter took place around 9 a.m. on October 11, 2024, in the Gloucester County high school’s lobby, according to FOX 29 Philadelphia. Baxter filed the suit this month in U.S. District Court of New Jersey. It names Marsh, Monroe Township, the Monroe Township Police Department, the Monroe Township Board of Education and the Williamstown High School principal as defendants, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Baxter’s attorney, Lara DiFabrizio, said her client did not threaten or argue with Marsh and was trying to reach her daughter. The school handbook directs visitors to leave outside drop-offs in a cabinet near the main entrance. The complaint alleges Marsh blocked the door as Baxter’s daughter approached, after which school staff restrained the teenager. New Jersey’s 2023 education-law-enforcement agreement is identified as a memorandum of agreement by the New Jersey Department of Education and Department of Law & Public Safety.
Police Said the Officer Was the One Injured
Immediately after the incident, Monroe Township police publicly stated on social media that both the school resource officer and a faculty member were physical assault victims during the lobby encounter, the Inquirer’s report notes. The department separately released a statement saying Marsh sustained face and hand injuries on the day of the arrest, and police said at the time that the department had zero tolerance for this kind of behavior in schools…