Family and close friends of Montclair’s Deshon Johnson, dissatisfied with how the town of Bloomfield and N.J. Transit have handled the bus accident that killed Johnson, are planning to protest Wednesday, according to a friend of Johnson’s, who sent the following email…

Deshon was simply waiting at the bus stop on his way to work and the bus just didn’t stop and drove right past him, coming onto the curb and killing my brother. We will be protesting the town of Bloomfield and NJ transit this Wednesday August 15th, which will be 1 month since our brother has walked this earth. The protest will start around 10am and we will be at the corner th at he was killed on, which is the intersection of Broad St & Bay St. in Bloomfield, NJ. The mother, family, and close friends will all be in attendance and we welcome any one else who is willing to show some support with us. We are not satisfied with how Bloomfield, and NJ transit both are treating the situation and we demand justice. If you can make it at 10 am please do, we need all the support we can get. Thank you for your support.

UPDATE: We also received an email about the nature of the protest.

The family has seen video from the accident and feel that there was obvious negligence on behalf of the town of Bloomfield, the bus driver, and nj transit. We also are not satisfied with the investigation effort being given by the Prosecutors office. Deshon’s mother has only heard from nj transit once, which was 1 day before the wake, being very demanding to meet with her and never once at least said sorry. The intersection has also been under construction for a while and was still under construction when the event took place, and is now all brand new and fixed, what a coincidence. The bus also drives over the curb and bullies cars when it makes a turn on that corner everyday. The bus never even stops at that bus stop and from the video we saw and witnesses we have spoken to Deshon was sitting down waiting for the bus for about 20mins early and the bus still just drove right past him so he chased it down and may have been struck as the bus came onto the curb. This is horrible news to hear because we have lost our best friend for absolutely no reason. We have also never heard any news on the bus driver or if they are suspended or anything. We have many more complaints as well.

We are protesting to bring out witnesses who might have been there and regularly go there at the same time, day, and place. So we can find more answers.

There is also a Justice for Deshon Johnson Facebook page, which includes a video tribute to Deshon, who recorded under the name Sean Cos Mason. It features his song, “Life Hurts”:

YouTube video

15 replies on “Family and Friends of Deshon Johnson To Protest in Bloomfield (UPDATED)”

  3. I certainly wish this article had included something about the complaints against NJT and Bloomfield. Without that, I have no idea why Bloomfield is involved in the complaints at all. It was an NJT bus and driver, not Bloomfield personnel or equipment. So how is Bloomfield in the line of fire on this?!

    Kind of critical information to leave out of the story.

  4. It is my understanding that Essex County Sheriff’s took over as they have jurisdiction on Broad Street (County Road). Bloomfield Police were only on site for traffic re-direction.

  6. It breaks my heart to think about Deshon’s untimely death. It is impossible to make any sense out of this tragic event. The question lingers, “Why?”. Deshon’s song, “Life Hurts” answers that question. His music will live on and hopefully grant some respite to those who knew and loved him.

  8. It is very coincidental that right after the death of this young man that the county woke up and put on all the new stoplights. Before that they were bagged up for months.

  10. I hold no brief for Bloomfield officials, but the fault clearly seems to be with NJT and possibly Essex County. (They also have the deeper pockets — in case you haven’t heard, this town is BROKE.)
    Hope witnesses come forward with more info. The above account by the protesters is very confusing, but I certainly support them. Still not clear on which bus was involved.

  11. Hey baci or what ever your name is above this comment. I am Deshon’s best friend and this all may sound confusing to you and you may not understand anything we are doing because we cant really express our feelings over the internet like you can. This is a very serious situation and there are tons of other information we cannot release yet because the case is still under investigation. How about you come to the protest tomorrow and ask us in person why we are doing this and I think you will get a MUCH better explanation from our mouths verses this little articles you are reading. You know nothing of the case and everything you just said is not what actually happened in the case as our investigators have found out.

    So you either stop talking, or come to the protest tomorrow.

  12. And for you to say the protest for my best friends LIFE THAT WAS LOST is the lamest protest of all time is disgraceful for me to read. I think you need to think before speak.

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