Edward Cagney Matthews Arrested After Viral Racist Rant Inspiring Hundreds Of Protestors To Show Up To His Home

New Jersey resident and 45-year-old Edward Cagney Matthews was arrested at his home yesterday following three days of protests in his front yard after a video of him yelling racial slurs at his Black neighbors went viral.

The roughly six-minute video, which started going viral earlier this month across social media, shows Matthews verbally harassing a number of Black men in what appears to be their yard, puffing out his chest at them threateningly and repeatedly hurling racial slurs at them, including "monkey." At one point, Matthews turns to the camera and states his exact address in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, doxxing himself and saying "bring whoever." The internet responded with an army as the video inspired over 100 protestors to set up camp in Matthews' yard, where they would stay for three days leading up to his arrest.

A number of videos surfaced from the protest, many uploaded to TikTok under the hashtag "#edwardcagneymatthews." One video shows the police escorting Matthews out of his home, windows smashed by protestors, as they throw objects at him and boo. Matthews allegedly tried to apologize to the crowd at one point throughout the three-day period, but it was not met well.

According to neighbors who spoke to the Washington Post, this is not the first instance of racially driven harassment from Matthews. The man has allegedly harassed his Black neighbors for years and the police have always refused to help. This has inspired criticism towards the Mount Laurel Police Department as people wonder why they didn't respond earlier and whether this incident could have been avoided if they had. Matthews is faced with charges of biased intimidation and harassment for the incident.

Why was Edward Cagney Matthews allowed to terrorize this community. I found this post on a legal website where a woman stated she was in fear of her life from his targeted harassment. @mountlaurelpd pic.twitter.com/EMzErfsnV2

— Jennifer-O-Jenni (@jirichardson) July 5, 2021