BY MAURICE WILLIAMS AND KATHLEEN FITZGERALD
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey - In the early morning hours of
September 13, the Cooper Gallery here was broken into, the smoke
detectors disarmed, and a devastating fire set. The gallery is
presently exhibiting "Faces of War: Children of Belfast"
featuring photographs of children from the Catholic community of
West Belfast by Pulitzer nominee Michael Schwartz.
The official opening of the photograph exhibition was scheduled the day of the arson attack. The walls in the gallery have been singed black, office files were destroyed, and all 23 of the photographs of children in the British-occupied part of Ireland have been ruined.
According to the exhibition director Ahn Behrens, the arsonists entered through another gallery next door, disabled the smoke alarm system and smoke detectors, made a pile of combustible material in the director's office, and started the fire. Behren said nothing of value was taken from the gallery.
The attack was clearly political. One of the photographs shows children dressed as Irish Republican Army volunteers, another shows a child mocking British troops.
As of press time, no arrests had been made nor had anyone claimed responsibility. Jersey City cops initially said the arson attack was political. By the next day, however, police dismissed the possibility. They told the press it was a routine burglary and arson, pointing to the absence of any notes or phone calls indicating political hostility. By September 15 investigators, including the Jersey City fire and police department as well as the FBI, seized the gallery's computer. They now are attempting to get a warrant to search the computer files, according to the Jersey Journal.
"This is our first overtly political show," Behrens said. "We've never had any trouble whatsoever before. I knew there were white supremacists in this country, but I never knew anything like this about Ireland [to happen] here." Behrens said the gallery promoted the show for the past three months sending out press releases to various publications and other media. Schwartz's show was reviewed in the September 13 issue of The Jersey City Reporter.
Behrens talked to reporters in the backyard sculpture garden where the opening reception for the show went on as planned. People passed through the smoke-damaged gallery with destroyed photos and paintings still piled on the floor to offer support.
"We held the opening reception anyway because people should see this," Behrens said. "We're not taking the show down, even if we have to sleep in the gallery."
Maurice Williams is the Socialist Workers candidate for Congress in the 10th CD in New Jersey.