New Jersey § 2C:33-1 Riot; failure to disperse.

New Jersey Statutes

§ 2C:33-1 — Riot; failure to disperse.

New Jersey § 2C:33-1

Title 2CTHE NEW JERSEY CODE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

This text of New Jersey § 2C:33-1 (Riot; failure to disperse.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-1 (2026).

Text

2C:33-1. a. Riot. A person is guilty of riot if the person participates with four or more other persons in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2:

(1)With purpose to commit or facilitate the commission of a crime;

(2)With purpose to prevent or coerce official action; or (3) When he or any other participant, known to him, uses or plans to use a firearm or other deadly weapon. Riot if committed under circumstances set forth in paragraph (3) is a crime of the third degree. Otherwise riot is a crime of the fourth degree. b. Failure of disorderly persons to disperse upon official order. Where five or more persons are participating in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2 likely to cause substantial harm, a peace office

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2C:33-1. a. Riot. A person is guilty of riot if the person participates with four or more other persons in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2: (1) With purpose to commit or facilitate the commission of a crime; (2) With purpose to prevent or coerce official action; or (3) When he or any other participant, known to him, uses or plans to use a firearm or other deadly weapon. Riot if committed under circumstances set forth in paragraph (3) is a crime of the third degree. Otherwise riot is a crime of the fourth degree. b. Failure of disorderly persons to disperse upon official order. Where five or more persons are participating in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2 likely to cause substantial harm, a peace officer or other public servant engaged in executing or enforcing the law may order the participants and others in the immediate vicinity to disperse. A person who refuses or knowingly fails to obey such an order commits a disorderly persons offense. c. Public Brawl. A person is guilty of inciting a public brawl if: (1) the person acts with purpose to incite a group of four or more other persons imminently to engage in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in subsections a. or d. of N.J.S.2C:33-2 or acts with purpose to produce such imminent course of disorderly conduct by a group of four or more persons; and (2) the person's actions are likely to incite or produce such imminent course of disorderly conduct by a group of four or more persons. Inciting a public brawl is a crime of the fourth degree if the person acts with purpose to incite or produce the course of disorderly conduct defined in subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:33-2; otherwise, it is a disorderly persons offense. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:1-8, a conviction of inciting a public brawl shall not merge with the offense of riot pursuant to subsection a. of this section or disorderly conduct pursuant to subsections a. or d. of N.J.S.2C:33-2. L.1978, c. 95, s. 2C:33-1, eff. Sept. 1, 1979. Amended by L.1979, c. 178, s. 63, eff. Sept. 1, 1979; L.1981, c. 290, s. 35, eff. Sept. 24, 1981; 2025, c.59, s.1.