Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small addressed the public on Monday, just days after law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at his home last week.
Joined by his attorney, Ed Jacobs, Small said that the search was tied to, what he called, a family matter.
'I have nothing to hide'
“I have nothing to hide," Small said during an April 1, 2024, news conference in the Jersey Shore resort town.
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According to the mayor, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office executed a search warrant at his home on Thursday, March 28, and they took a cellphone and laptops from his home.
"They did all of this just for a cellphone and laptops, because they want to think that there’s some kind of communication going on," he said.
He noted that there were no drugs nor guns in his home and there was no stolen money at his home for them to find.
He took the time to recall his actions on Thursday when law enforcement officials blocked off Presbyterian Avenue as they searched the home that Small shares with his wife, La’Quetta Small, who is the superintendent of Atlantic City Public School system.
He said dozens of officers with the prosecutor's office descended on his home as part of an investigation -- that Small said he was aware of -- that has been going on for three or four months.
Small did not discuss any specific details of that investigation, he did, however, take a moment to dispel what he called "rumors" involving his family, specifically his daughter, Jada.
Addressing rumors
He said that there were rumors that claimed his teenage daughter was pregnant -- even claiming that she may have been having twins -- and that his wife hit her and his son filmed the assault.
That isn't true, he said.
Also, some rumors that Small discussed, claimed he could be charged with murder because he struck his daughter, and beat her so badly that she lost the unborn children.
"My daughter is not pregnant. My daughter has never been pregnant. My daughter is not pregnant with twins," said the mayor.
However, when asked if he had struck his daughter, the mayor did not respond.
"We aren't going to respond to any questions about allegations in this investigation," Small's attorney, Jacobs replied instead.
Also, Small hinted that law enforcement officials were targeting his office for political reasons.
"There’s a lot of politics going on and I’m going to let the media connect the dots,” said Small.
Though, Jacobs said at the conclusion of the day's event that they were not alleging that the search of the mayor's home was politically motivated, but they were "not ruling anything out."
The arrest of Constance Days-Chapman
Cryptically, Small also discussed Thursday's arrest of Atlantic City High School principal, Constance Days-Chapman on charges that allege that she did not notify the proper authorities when a student told her that they were being "emotionally and physically abused by the juvenile's parents."
"We support you Mandy, you did absolutely nothing wrong," said Small, noting that his children consider Days-Chapman to be their "Aunt Mandy."
Days-Chapman served as Small's campaign manager and she is the municipal chair of the Atlantic City Democratic Committee.
Law enforcement officials respond
Shortly after the mayor's comments, officials with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office released a statement on the investigation, saying that their officers acted appropriately during Thursday's search.
"Standard operating procedures and protocols in executing residential search warrants were utilized to ensure the safety of all occupants of the residence, neighbors, and law enforcement alike," the office said in a statement.
However, the prosecutor's office did not disclose the nature of the investigation nor did they detail any potential findings or items that may have been removed from the home.
Mayor Small faced voter fraud charges more than a decade ago when he was a councilmember. Both Small and his co-defendants were acquitted in 2011.
This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.
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