Sweeney wants charges against pension bill protesters dropped

N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney revealed his softer side today when he called on state police to drop charges filed yesterday against protesters of the state’s benefits legislation.

State police ticketed about two dozen people yesterday as demonstrators protested the use of legislation to regulate state union employee’s benefits and pensions, as the Associated Press reports.

The demonstrators were issued disorderly persons summonses for standing with locked arms and chanting “Kill the bill!”

Sweeney, who sponsored the bill, calls the issue at hand “tough and emotional.”