By Kevin Coughlin -

Video: Free Speech in Morristown

By Kevin Coughlin

They say you fight fire with fire.

The same goes for free speech in Morristown.

Latino residents, offended by signs posted at a Speedwell Avenue home, gathered there on Wednesday night to express their opinions.

“The community united will never be defeated!” they chanted in Spanish, waving Colombian flags and waving signs of their own

They were responding to giant lawn signs posted this week by Gregg Bruen, a 52-year-old furniture maker who contends that “stacking” by unscrupulous landlords–packing houses with immigrants — –is dragging down his neighborhood.

Some demonstrators acknowledged that housing is an issue, but took exception to signs singling out Colombians from the city of Montenegro.

“When he said a Colombian cartel bought the house next door, he attacked the whole community,” said Hector Cardona, a Colombia native who owns a billiards hall and serves on the planning board.

“I own a house, and a lot of Colombians own houses. It’s like saying the Italian next door is in the Cosa Nostra,” Cardona said.

The demonstration was peaceful and orderly. At one point, 11 police officers were directing traffic and keeping an eye on things in front of Bruen’s home.

Cardona said demonstrators organized via social media and recruited members of several churches, Latino soccer leagues, and Montenegro Civico, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012.

As many as 5,000 immigrants from Montenegro are estimated to live in Morristown, its “sister city.”

“We’re saying no to racism,” said Jacqueline Zapata of Wind of the Spirit, a Morristown-based immigrant aid organization.

Kevin Morales, a college student from Dover, read about the controversy on MorristownGreen.com and came to show solidarity with the Latino community. His mother became a naturalized citizen last week, he said with pride.

While Bruen may raise valid concerns about overcrowded housing, Morales said, “he basically took a bad approach.”

“I am a citizen. I pay taxes, like everyone else,” said Morristown resident Maria Mejia, whose daughter aspires to become a doctor.

“We want to show that we are honest people, we work hard….We come for a better life, like people from every other country.”

Bruen and his dog Brownie sat out the demonstration at a friend’s house.

Hispanics are crucial to the nation’s farm and restaurant economies, he said, adding that he has worked with many Hispanics on construction projects.

He helped put together a relief effort with fellow contractors to aid victims of a 1998 earthquake in Montenegro, he said.

“This has nothing to do with the color of your skin,” Bruen said of his signs. “All I’m saying is, I live next to fire hazards in Morristown, with 80-year-old homes with a lot of people living in them.”

He claims one of those tenants recently tried to steal a power tool from his backyard — the last straw, he said, during 18 tense years at his present address.

His complaints to town hall have placed him in the cross-hairs of housing inspectors, who have mandated costly improvements to his house, he said.

Bruen chided Mayor Tim Dougherty in one of his plywood lawn signs.

“I have thick skin. He can take any shots at me he wants,” Dougherty said. “Any complaints he’s filed have been thoroughly investigated. It goes back before I was mayor.”

A Bruen neighbor, speaking only under condition of anonymity, expressed fears about letting her child play outside because of unsavory activities at a “stacked” house nearby.

Another woman said she was groped and sexually harassed by men from another such house. She regularly finds hypodermic syringes discarded on her property, she said.

Bruen said the town could alleviate stacking by building affordable housing.

While he supports Donald Trump for president, Bruen said he doubts the candidate’s plans to deport undocumented residents and wall off the Mexican border will work.

“I think everyone in this country should be a United States citizen,” Bruen said. “Like Mary and Joseph, you go to Bethlehem, and you register the town you’re in… and in six months, everyone in this country could become a citizen.”