ASBURY PARK — Alexander J. Franklin, 33, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was arrested here Friday and charged with manslaughter in the beating death of James C. Morrison, 25, of New Gretna, last month outside Club Deep in Asbury Park.
A joint investigation by the Asbury Park Police Department and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit led to Franklin’s apprehension, which revealed his association with the gang FSU, or Friends Stand United, according to a news release from the Prosecutor’s Office.
According to police, FSU was responsible for driving out the neo-Nazi presence in the Boston hardcore punk scene of the mid-1980s, and has grown into a gang of young men who assault individuals at hardcore shows in dozens of cities across the country — shows similar to the one Morrison attended Jan. 14.
In an interview last month, several of Morrison’s friends dismissed allegations that Morrison was involved with skinheads or neo-Nazi groups. The altercation was related to a T-shirt worn by one of Morrison’s friends that night at Club Deep, which depicted a confederate flag, they said.
“I’ve known him since middle school and he has no ties to racist groups. Jim was in the Navy and fought at the beginning of the war in Iraq. He went there to protect the rights of the person who killed him. Jim liked everybody and hung out with all kinds of people,” said Sam Ross, a roommate and friend of Morrison’s.