The Democrat mayor of Atlantic City’s home was raided by armed police officers last week in what he now calls a “political” attack as police investigated a “family matter.”
Mayor Marty Small Sr. said Monday he was approached by two Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office officers while he was helping his mother-in-law into the car so his wife could take her to get bloodwork done at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Fox 29 reported.
The officers then presented him with five search warrants on Small’s home and vehicles as part of an ongoing investigation the mayor said he had been aware of for several months.
“As I turn around every area of my house, 20 law enforcement officials with guns, rifles, battering rams and more ascend to our proximity,” Small said at a news conference addressing the incident on Monday, according to CBS News.
Finally after about three and a half hours, law enforcement officers seized two of Small’s cellphones and a handful of personal-use laptops, his attorney said.
Small said that the raid on his home was conducted in a “very aggressive and public manner.”
“We did not deserve that,” the mayor said. “I had nothing to hide.”
“Let me get into the politics of it: It is political and it is racial, because people don’t like the fact that this mayor is giving minorities opportunities that they’ve never had in City Hall ever before,” he claimed.
Small, who is up for re-election next year, went on to say there is “a lot of politics going on… because they know they can’t beat me in an election.”
But the raid on the home he shares with his wife, children and mother-in-law came just hours before Constance Days-Chapman, the principal of Atlantic City High School and his former campaign manager, was charged with failing to make a report to the New Jersey child welfare agency about allegations of abuse.
An unidentified student at the school reportedly told a school staff member they were being “emotionally and physically abused” by their parents and had previously told this to the principal, prosecutors alleged in a press release.
When the staffer confronted Days-Chapman about the allegations, she allegedly denied knowing about the first report and said she would contact the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Instead, prosecutors allege, the principal met with the accused parents to tell them what their child had said.
Days-Campbell, 37, is now charged with official misconduct, obstruction of justice, hindering apprehension of another and failure to report child abuse.
She previously worked for the Atlantic City School District where Smalls’ wife, La’Quetta Small, is the superintendent.
It is unclear whether the raid on the Small’s house was related to Days-Campbell’s arrest.
Small lashed out at rumors circulating about the timing of the arrest.
“The most egregious rumor to date is that my daughter was pregnant with twins and I beat the s–t out of her so bad that I killed the babies and I’m going to be charged with double murder,” he said at the news conference, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
“My daughter is not pregnant. My daughter has never been pregnant. My daughter is not pregnant with twins,” he asserted.
Small also noted that his children call the principal “Aunt Maddy,” and said, “We stand with Mandy and Mandy stands with us.
“She has done nothing wrong. We have done nothing wrong,” he asserted.
But when asked directly if the student referred to in the charges brought against Days-Chapman is his daughter, Small’s attorney Ed Jacobs said he would not “respond to any specific factual allegations.
“We’re not here to try a case that has not been brought,” he said.
And when asked whether he struck his daughter, the mayor did not respond, NBC Philadelphia reports.
The Smalls are now reportedly in contact with state child welfare authorities and are “going through family therapy.
“And that’s what this should be, a family matter,” Small said at the news conference.
Jacobs said he does not expect any charges to be brought against the mayor or his wife.
“They have done absolutely nothing to obstruct or interfere with that investigation,” he told CBS.
In a statement, the Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office said its officers also acted professionally throughout the raid last week.
“Standard operating procedures and protocols in executing residential search warrants were utilized to ensure the safety of all occupants of the residence, neighbors and law enforcement alike,” the department told the Inquirer.
“These procedures are put in place for safety reasons and these procedures do not deviate regardless of one’s political, professional or social status.
“Both Mayor Small and Dr. Small were treated with dignity and respect during the entire process.”
