"If anyone wants to Google this cop his 'top skills' are listed as 'de-escalation' and 'conflict resolution'"

As if there weren’t enough reasons not to surf New Jersey in the summer, you can now add being choked and wrestled to the ground by local police officers for not showing your beach badge within, say, five seconds of being asked.

In a scene eerily similar to Stalins Gulag Archipelago, a surfer in Belmar NJ was throttled to the ground by town authorities for failing to show his “beach badge.”

You can hear the surfer say, below the screams of his beloved boo and right before the Hulk Hogan arm-to-neck embrace,

“I have my badge right there.”

The surfer appears to be calm and following orders. What happens next is a move only Conor McGregor could appreciate. A rear-naked choke with enough force to wrangle a Montana bison, thrown down face first to the sand like a beach pylon.

It takes six officers to lead the dangerous surfer away.

A short time later, Liam Mahoney, 28, of Junction City, California, is charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

A lil background on Jersey (New York too) beach access badges.

From Memorial Day (May 31) to Labor Day (September 2) all non-residents are required to buy daily beach access badges. Prices range from ten to thirty dollars. Jersey and New York costal communities thrive on blow-ins during the summer months. Most businesses and municipalities have to make their money during these times, hence the badges and inflated “non-local” prices on goods.

It’s a 50 shade of grey line when trying to cross the threshold to the beach. Technically, by municipal law, ya gotta pay if your using the beach. But, if you’re just going to surf, swim or fish (no umbrella, cooler, beach chair) you could walk right by the teen sentinels with a smile and a wave.

The Belmar Police Department was called for a few questions and responded with the usual two word cop out (pun intended): “No comment.”

Locals on Instagram were quick to respond:

@floatywoodboat -
Doesn’t need a badge to surf. It’s illegal to prevent use of the water. Says it right on the nj government website

The public’s right to access tidal waters and their shorelines is a concept that developed in Roman law and continues to this day. Public access is a right that is part of the Public Trust Doctrine, and these rights have primarily been defined in the many court cases that have interpreted the Public Trust Doctrine. More recently, in 2019, the Legislature passed a Public Access Law that was signed by Governor Murphy and explicitly incorporates the Public Trust Doctrine’s right of public access into the New Jersey statutes. The Statute defines public access as “visual and physical access to, and use of, tidal waters and adjacent shorelines, sufficient perpendicular access from upland areas to tidal waters and adjacent shorelines, and the necessary support amenities to facilitate public access for all, including, but not limited to, public parking and restrooms.” N.J.S.A. 13:1D-150(1)(f).

And three favorites:
@russroe- This cop lost his chick to a surfer this summer. Prove me wrong.

@meeg_verbauskas- if anyone wants to google this problematic cop his “top skills” listed on linked in are “de-escalation” and “conflict resolution”. what a joke

@alexandra_meehan- He can finally fulfill his dream of being a djais bouncer. Give this guy his papers.