JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) - Officials say a New Jersey man already indicted on gang charges has been charged with using Facebook to intimidate witnesses involved in the police investigation.
Acting Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said Thursday that Laquan Clark, of Jersey City, threatened the lives of witnesses who were depicted in videos posted on the social media site.
Clark faces first-degree witness tampering charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years.
Suarez says that Clark’s Facebook page posted videos this week showing witness interviews stemming from an investigation into gang activity along with threats against witnesses’ lives.
Clark and 21 others were indicted in April on gang and other charges. He was released on bail before he was arrested Thursday.
Clark’s attorney, Jacob Hudnut, disputed the charges and is seeking dismissal. He says the only thing keeping Clark in jail on the charges is what the prosecutor’s office found to be inappropriate use of Facebook.
“The Prosecutor’s Office is not the Facebook police,” Hudnut said in a statement.
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