Calling it the “most extreme" and "egregious display of knucklehead behavior,” Gov. Phil Murphy blasted YouTube pranksters Wednesday whose presence in Seaside Heights on Monday night drew large, maskless crowds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor shamed the group, the Nelk Boys, for having “succeeded in getting the notoriety they wanted, but obviously don’t deserve" after about more than 1,000 people crowded outside the “Jersey Shore” house after they told followers they would be making an appearance at the place made popular by the MTV reality show.
Murphy, at the same time, urged all the people who were in the crowd to get tested for COVID-19.
“New Jersey was just the latest stop on their tour of willful negligence for public health in a pandemic,” Murphy said his regular COVID-19 briefing in Trenton.
“That kind of gathering is how coronavirus spreads most easily,” he said. “It will be a couple of weeks ... before we know whether or not Seaside Heights unwillingly became a coronavirus hotspot because of these knuckleheads, who I hope don’t come back to New Jersey and certainly aren’t welcome.”
The Nelk Boys shared clips from their Shore trip on Instagram and Twitter on Monday.
By the evening, Seaside Heights Police, who had already closed the town to non-resident traffic because of the scene, said the crowd swelled to at least 1,500 people. Neighboring police departments responded as backup and eight men between the ages of 18 and 26 were arrested. Police said some people hurled glass bottles and rocks at officers.
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“These so-called influencers need to be taken to task,” Murphy said. “The local police resources that were needed to disperse the crowd were substantial.”
The Nelk Boys, who hail from Canada, are Gen Zers Jesse Sebastiani, Kyle Forgeard and Steve Deleonardis. The trio, who lived in Los Angeles before they set off on travels across the country, are known for their visits to college campuses.
Last week, YouTube temporarily “demonetized” them after they allegedly threw parties at Illinois State University, creating a “public health risk,” BuzzFeed reported. Video they shared on Instagram showed students at on-campus parties not wearing masks or social distancing.
Younger people in the state make up the largest amount of new positive tests, according to state data. They are nearly three times that of the recent regular daily figures.
“Just because you’re young and seemingly invincible doesn’t mean you actually are, or that you can’t spread the virus on to someone who is particularly vulnerable,” Murphy said.
As of Wednesday, there have been 197,792 documented COVID-19 cases.
The state’s death toll stands at 16,054 people, including 14,263 lab-confirmed deaths and 1,791 considered probable.
That’s roughly the same number of New Jersey service members who died in the six years the U.S. fought in WWI and WWII combined, which puts the coronavirus among the top killers in the state this year — even compared to chronic illnesses that consistently claim lives in the state and across the nation.
NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Amy Kuperinsky contributed to this report.
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YouTube pranksters who drew huge crowd to Jersey Shore house endangered lives, not welcome in N.J., Murphy sa - NJ.com
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