"We're not preaching. We're not shouting... We are humbly and solemnly praying with the senator," one clergy member said
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Clergy members from across the state gathered Thursday in Newark to protest claims by government prosecutors that prayer circles U.S. Senator Robert Menendez participated in with dressed clergy during breaks in his trial might have influenced the jury.
"This is why this country was established, for the freedom to pray and practice as each one of us wills," Rabbi Avi Richler, of Chabad of Gloucester County in Mullica Hill, said over street noise at the intersection of Broad and Walnut streets.
"When they suppress prayer in other countries, we stand up and we say, 'no.' And here in America when they suppress prayers we should have a crowd that fills this entire square," he said.
About a dozen priests, reverends and rabbis from across the state stood between Grace Church and the Rodino Federal building saying they and Menendez had every right to exercise religion in the hallways of the courthouse.
"How in the world can a jury who is closed up, locked up in a room debating and deliberating over the case hear us in the hallway quietly praying," said Rev. Dr. Ronald L. Owens, of the New Hope Baptist Church in Metuchen, who led the rally.
"We're not preaching. We're not shouting. We're not raising any noise," he said. "We are humbly and solemnly praying with the senator."
Why is the government retrying Menendez and how will it be different?
The corruption case against Menendez (D-NJ) ended in November with a mistrial because the jury was deadlocked.
The government alleges that Menendez's ophthalmologist friend Salomon Melgen gave him six-figure campaign contributions, luxury hotel stays and flights on private planes. In exchange, the government asserts, for Menedez's help with an $8.9 million Medicare billing dispute Melgen was involved in, visa applications for the doctor's foreign girlfriends and a contested port security contract in the Dominican Republic.
The defense argued that Melgen and Menendez shared a 20-year friendship and the senator's staff mistakenly believed those gifts were exempt from disclosure. They also said the contributions followed years of financial support from Melgen for candidates outside of his home state, Florida.
The government submitted a short filing to the court last Friday afternoon asking to retry Menendez, who is up for re-election this year, and Melgen as soon as possible.
Hours later prosecutors asked for new ground rules for the second trial. Among them, protecting the jury from 'undue extrajudicial pressure' that stemmed from, among other things, the prayers.
Prosecutor's specifically complained that jurors would see the senator standing in a circle with dressed clergy in the hallways praying and singing hymns and was sometimes heard singing 'Amazing Grace.'
Rev. Pablo Pizarro, of Lighthouse Assembly of God and a liaison for clergy affairs to the office of Newark Mayor Das Baraka, said he attended the trial on three days. One of the times he was there, Menendez came out of the courtroom for a bathroom break and he spoke to the senator, who he knows from parades and other events.
Pizarro said he asked Menendez how he was doing and offered to pray with him right there. 'It was a simple prayer, praying that God would give him strength and that he would be encouraged through this process that he's not alone," Pizarro said.
Other clergy, about a half dozen people in total, stood around Menendez and prayed in a "whisper voice" with their hands placed over his shoulder, Pizarro recalled.
Many of the clergy who gathered at the rally said they believe Menendez is innocent.
'There is no there there,' judge says in tossing some Menendez charges
"I think that they are pulling for straws," said Owens. "When you don't have facts and you don't have anything to substantiate the charges, you're going to pull straws."
Owens, speaking as a citizen, said he is "very suspect" of the current government.
"They're in the news everyday and not in a positive way," he said. "And now we have a (Department of Justice) that wants to crucify one of the outspoken senators in our senate today."
Several clergy said they were returning support to Menendez that he has shown them.
Father Michael Sorial, of St. Anianus Coptic Orthodox Church in Princeton, said his family emigrated from Egypt to America because of the religious freedom this country affords.
"Over the last 12 years Senator Menendez has been a credit to the Coptic community in our good times and in tragic times ... for that reason we stood with him during his trial .. not only did we pray for him ... we pray that he will be protected from undue attacks and that justice would truly be served," Sorial said.
In a letter addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and signed by 19 New Jersey clergy members, the religious leaders said their support of Menendez is "rooted in Senator Menendez's lifetime of work defending society's most vulnerable."
The religious leaders said they plan to attend the second trial -- and to pray with Menendez.
"We're going to send letters to every level of the department of justice so that they understand this is not just a one time thing," Owens said.
A department of justice spokesperson declined to comment.
A spokesman for Menendez, Steven Sandburg, said the senator "is appreciative of all the continued support he's getting."
Allison Pries may be reached at apries@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonPries. Find NJ.com on Facebook.