Pemberton Mayor Matthew Bianchini lunged at a resident, and the resident asked a court for charges.

A complaint a resident files is a request that charges be brought. It is not a charge police or a prosecutor have announced. WPVI and Fox News reported the department has not said whether it will file the counts Sawka listed. Bianchini told WPVI the lunge was wrong and that he would do it again if he had to. Those are his words after the meeting. They are not a plea, and they are not a finding that a crime occurred.

WPVI and Fox News reported that Pemberton Township Mayor Matthew Bianchini charged toward resident Michael Sawka during a council meeting Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, and that other people restrained him and took him out of the room. WPVI, citing video recorded by Pine Barrens Tribune reporter Ryan Elmore, reported Bianchini ran toward Sawka and shouted "I'm getting you," and that as he was escorted out he shouted that he was getting Sawka, including a profanity. Fox News reported the same lunge, the same "I'm getting you," and that he shouted further threats, including profanity, as he was removed. Fox News reported Sawka is a vocal critic of the mayor. The meeting video is what those stations describe. It is not a charging document.

What the two men say started it is not one account. WPVI reported the confrontation happened while a recently fired township employee was addressing the council. Bianchini and members of his family told WPVI that Sawka and another resident made rude comments toward the mayor's wife and daughter, who were seated in the back, and that they told the two residents to stop. Fox News reported the same family account to WPVI. WPVI reported the township's meeting video shows Sawka waving a hand toward the back of the room and then making an obscene gesture toward the mayor, and that Bianchini then got up and charged. Sawka told WPVI he stayed seated, that he never got up, and that he was calm. He told the station family members behind him started speaking, that he turned and waved his hands, and that he did not say a word. He denied making comments toward the mayor's family. Fox News reported that denial. The wife and daughter are not named here.

What Bianchini said the next day is in both stories, and it is not one sentence. He told WPVI, "I just basically snapped," and, "I hate to put it this way, but it's a long time coming." He also told WPVI, "I should not have said that. That was wrong. It was in the heat of the moment. I'm not gonna get anybody." Fox News reported those remarks from the WPVI interview. He then told WPVI, "Was it wrong? Absolutely. Was it justified? Absolutely. And I would do it again if I had to," and, "Don't attack my family." Fox News reported that he would do it again and the line about his family. Bianchini told WPVI that Sawka has harassed him and his family since Bianchini was appointed this year to fill a vacant seat, and that Sawka has gone after township leaders for years. Sawka told WPVI his point is township spending, and that he wants Bianchini to resign. Those are the interviews. They do not decide a charge.

WPVI reported Sawka filed a complaint in municipal court Thursday seeking assault and terroristic-threats charges against Bianchini. Fox News, citing WPVI, reported the same Thursday filing and the same two counts he is seeking. Both outlets reported the police department has not said whether it will pursue those charges. Fox News reported it had asked Pemberton Township police for comment. A municipal complaint from a resident asks a court to take up those accusations. It does not, by itself, mean police have charged him. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.