MORRISTOWN – In front of a surging crowd on the Morristown Green in front of a crowd mostly made up of women, First Lady Tammy Murphy related a personal story of fending off a male assailant when she was in college.

She said she had only spoken of it to select individuals until now, when she felt compelled to share her

story.

Introduced onstage by her husband, who’s been in office less than a week, Murphy said her attacker tried to take advantage of her near a college frat house. She resisted, and cried for help, the First Lady said, but no one heard her cries. The would-be rapist found a crabapple to attempt to put in her mouth to keep her quiet.

When he did that, “I bit him,” Murphy said.

The large crowd exulted.

“I know the feeling of shame,” she said. “I know the feeling of helplessness. We will never be alone among this tremendous sisterhood.”

Marking the first anniversary of this resistance movement, the crammed outdoor event represented a massive show of anti Donald Trump political force on the streets of Morristown and in the spillzone near the statues of Lafayette, Hamilton and Washington.

“She is the rock star in her own right,” The Governor said in reference to his wife. “She cares about the things we care about. She was born under the same star that so many of us were born under, which is progressive politics is American values.”

Other speakers included Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) and the area of the stage contained a strong presence of women elected officials and women running for public office, including Mikie Sherrill of CD11, and Linda Weber and Lisa Mandelblatt of CD7.

Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29) was present, in addition to Assemblywoman Angela McKnight (D-31), Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin (D-18), Assemblywoman Joann Downey (D-16), Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-16) and many others.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla was in attendance, as were Passaic County Freeholder John Bartlett, Sierra Club honcho Jeff Tittel, Somerset County Democratic Chair Peg Schaffer, Democratic State Party Vice Chair Lizette Delgado Polanco, Working Families Diehard Analilia Mejia and Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty.

Clean Water Action Chief Dave Pringle, a congressional candidate in CD7, was also in attendance.