“Here. Get her,” was the command uttered by Jersey City school board member Younass Barkouch before four men began to harass fellow Trustee Noemi Velazquez with obscenities and photos of dead babies, Velazquez told The Jersey Journal Wednesday after filing a harassment complaint in Jersey City Municipal Court.
The alleged incident occurred after the May 14 special board of education meeting. Barkouch allegedly had four of his “friends” scream obscenities and flash photos from their phones of infants killed in Gaza, where Israeli forces continue to fight the Hamas terrorist group after the surprise Hamas attack Oct. 7.
“The guys all approached me really aggressively with words and pictures on their phones of dead babies and stuff like that,” Velazquez said. “Throwing it in my face saying ‘Is this what you stand for? Is this who you are?’
“I couldn’t even answer I was so nervous. I was in total shock.”
Barkouch denied Velazquez’s harassment allegations. He said this is part of a plan by board President DeJon Morris, Trustee Natalia Ioffe and Velazquez to “defame my character and pressure me to resign because ‘he asks too many questions.’ ”
“I have always conducted myself with professionalism and respect for all my colleagues,” Barkouch said. “I am confident that a thorough investigation (reviewing camera footage from the central office and speaking to all the witnesses who were present) will confirm Noemi’s allegations are false.
“I have served the community silently at no cost for nearly two and a half years, but in the last few months, I have been targeted intentionally and relentlessly by these individuals.”
Velazquez said security personnel called police because they were concerned something might happen to her. She said Barkouch incited the incident and board Attorney Ramon Rivera responded by intervening to stop the men. Rivera Wednesday declined to comment.
“They were behaving like thugs and that is a little concerning because we are role models and we are board members,” Velazquez said. “We should be above all that.
“I got nothing to say to him … as far as I am concerned to me he is done and to the community in general he is done …”
The Jersey Journal’s Open Public Records Act request for the police report was denied as a “criminal investigatory record that is exempt from disclosure.”
City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione shared a summary of the incident. She said the victim — her narrative did not include names — was advised to file a complaint with the municipal court if she wished to pursue criminal charges.
The officers were advised of four unidentified males approaching a woman “in an aggressive manner while shouting obscenities at her,” Wallace-Scalcione said. The (men) approached due to the “directives made by another (man) known to her.”
The relationship between the two board members soured after Velazquez was first made vice president and Barkouch hoped to get the second vice president seat, which was added for one year, but never approved as a permanent position. More than a year later, Barkouch and Morris led a coup to replace Velazquez and then President Natalia Ioffe as board leaders.
While Barkouch finally got the seat he had long coveted in March, it was short-lived after he tried to take the presidency from Morris before the board could approve it. Less than two weeks later, the board removed him as vice president.
Barkouch sparked another controversy when he chanted a pro-Palestinian slogan seen by many as antisemitic at a board meeting, which eventually led to calls for his resignation. While he stepped down as a political aide to three Hudson County state legislators, Barkouch has refused to resign from the board.
At a special May 14 meeting, where numerous speakers were divided on whether the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic or a peaceful rallying cry, the board filed a joint ethics charge against Barkouch.
Morris said the incident reinforces the need for Barkouch to step down from the board and noted that Barkouch and Velazquez will be placed at opposite ends of the table at future meetings.
“No trustee should ever have to experience what Trustee Velazquez experienced due to the retaliation from Trustee Barkouch and his thugs,” Morris said. “Mr. Barkouch needs to realize he can not just go around doing what he wants without accountability.
“I encourage Trustee Velazquez to move to the next level in pursuing this and I hope he is held to the highest letter of the law.”
