Secaucus Man Admits To Bias Harassment Of 2 Men At Church

SECAUCUS, NJ — The Secaucus man accused of harassing two Episcopal church parishioners for their sexual orientation — and threatening to punch one of the men in the face — in March pleaded guilty.

Alfred "Alfredo" Viggiano, 73, pled guilty to one count of bias intimidation, a spokeswoman for Hudson County Prosecutor Wayne Mello said Monday.

Viggiano was sentenced to one year of probation. He was also ordered to undergo mental health counseling and not to go near the location of the incident, which is the Episcopal Church of Our Savior, the small white church on Flanagan Way.

He pleaded guilty June 23.

On March 8, Viggiano was captured on video walking up to the church, standing in the doorway and harassing two men inside. The two men are married to each other; they are members of the church and were decorating the church for the upcoming Easter holiday when Viggiano approached them.

"He comes running up with an American flag," one of the victims told police. "He just got in my face and said put the American flag up, take that s— down (referring to a rainbow LGBTQ+ flag that was hanging in the church). He called me a queer. He said he was gonna punch my face in."

The men showed the police officers the video they took of their encounter with Viggiano.

At various points in the video, Viggiano is heard saying: "I get upset talking to queers" and he also tells the men: "You're about to lose your f— teeth."

Someone filed an Open Public Records Act request for the police body camera footage of Viggiano's arrest and you can watch it here; it is about 35 minutes long.

Viggiano was questioned by Secaucus Police and he told them he "did not want to see" (a rainbow LGBTQ+ flag hanging outside the church), and he asked the two men to hang an American flag instead. He tells the police officer several times he is a Catholic.

The men called 911 and Secaucus Police arrested Viggiano outside the church that evening; he was charged with bias intimidation [2C:16-1A(2)] and harassment [2C:33-4B]. Viggiano was issued a complaint warrant to appear in court, and taken to the Hudson County Jail.

Viggiano is known in the town of Secaucus. He's been arrested before for bias intimidation and he's been accused of violently threatening people:

In 2021, he was arrested and accused of threatening an employee at the Hudson Wine store on Roosevelt Avenue with a knife, NJ.com reported.

In 2022, during the COVID pandemic, he yelled racial slurs at an Asian man and woman while they were walking on Riverside Station Boulevard at the XChange complex. He told them “take off your masks and go back to your country," said police. Report: Man Charged With Yelling Bias Slurs At Xchange In Secaucus

A year later, in 2023, he was similarly charged with bias intimidation and harassment of employees at the Dunkin' Donuts on Paterson Plank Road. In that instance, he was charged with intimidating the employees based on their ethnicity.

First report on this incident: Man Charged With Bias Intimidation At Secaucus Church (March 9, 2026)

The body camera footage of Viggiano's arrest: Secaucus Man Charged With Anti-Gay Harassment At Church: See Footage Of His Arrest (April 7, 2026)