A New Jersey mom tries to drop off tampons at her daughter’s school and says a cop put her in chokeholds. He was later named officer of the month

A New Jersey mother alleges a police officer put her in repeated chokeholds in her daughter’s high school lobby after staff rejected the tampons she had brought. According to Atlanta Black Star, Nadia Baxter sued Officer Michael J. Marsh Jr. of the Monroe Township Police Department in federal court this month over the October 11, 2024 encounter at Williamstown High School. The department later honored Marsh as its officer for March.

The suit, filed in New Jersey’s federal district court, alleges false arrest, malicious prosecution, excessive force and fabricated evidence. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the defendants also include the township, its police department, the school board and the principal. Baxter alleges Marsh gripped her arm, wrapped a hand around her throat and shoved her into lobby chairs. The complaint states he “repeatedly placed Ms. Baxter in chokeholds.”

Under the handbook cited in the complaint, parents are directed to leave drop-offs in a cabinet by the front entrance, yet outside deliveries are forbidden. After staff rejected the items, Baxter chose to bring her daughter home early. The suit says Marsh shut the lobby door in her path, and she asked why he was blocking her.

New Jersey limits chokehold use

The state rewrote its police use-of-force rules in 2020. CBS News reported that the new rules ban chokeholds in nearly all circumstances because they count as a form of deadly force. The rules also require officers to intervene when they see excessive force by another officer, and they require every use of force to be reported.

Baxter’s suit further alleges Marsh left his body camera off and described his actions in a report only as a “Take Down.” It says the report form offered chokehold and carotid artery restraint options that he did not choose. The suit states that footage from the lobby camera shows Marsh starting the physical contact, and it disputes his claim that she struck him.

Authorities charged Baxter with disorderly conduct, simple assault and resisting arrest. In February, prosecutors dropped the assault count and the resisting count and reduced the remaining charge to a local nuisance ordinance violation, to which she pleaded guilty. The suit states she took the deal reluctantly because the charges could endanger her job serving vulnerable people, and it stresses that she never admitted to assaulting Marsh.

Police stated at the time that Marsh “received injuries to his face and hands.” The department also stated it had “zero tolerance” for such behavior in schools. Video evidence has driven excessive force disputes elsewhere, as when a Tempe officer pushed an ASU student to the ground.

Her daughter was arrested too, and the school suspended her for roughly seven weeks for what it called “assaulting staff members.” The complaint alleges the principal grabbed or pulled the daughter while a counselor restrained the daughter on the floor. She returned under probation that barred school activities. Baxter’s attorney, Lara DiFabrizio, stated that the daughter has since started college and is a sophomore.

Months later, an Internal Affairs review cleared Marsh, the suit states. In comments to the Inquirer, police Capt. Kevin Bielski stated that the department generally avoids discussing lawsuits, and he wrote, “His reputation with the parents, students, and staff speaks for itself.” Baxter asks for a jury trial, attorneys’ fees and compensatory damages, along with punitive damages from the individual defendants if the law allows.