A Canadian woman who was caught on video assaulting a teenage girl wearing patriotic clothing during a Fourth of July weekend confrontation on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk has been ordered deported from the United States after pleading guilty to a reduced assault charge.
An immigration judge in Texas ruled Tuesday that 33-year-old Kaitlyn Tracey will be removed to Canada. The deportation order came shortly before Tracey entered a guilty plea in New Jersey to a single count of simple assault, a misdemeanor, resolving the criminal case stemming from the July 3 incident.
Tracey participated in the hearing by telephone from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Texas, where she has been held since being transferred from New Jersey.
As part of the plea agreement, Tracey admitted guilt to one misdemeanor assault charge. She was sentenced to one day in jail but received credit for time already served after spending time in the Ocean County Jail following her arrest.
Authorities said the altercation began after Tracey confronted a group of four teenagers on the Point Pleasant boardwalk, including a girl wearing a USA 250 tank top. According to police, the confrontation escalated into an argument before Tracey slapped the teenager across the face in an incident captured on video.
The Department of Homeland Security previously said Tracey had overstayed her visa and was living in the United States illegally at the time of her arrest.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Tracey’s attorney urged the court to view his client more favorably, describing her as someone who had contributed positively while living in the United States.
“She arrived here on a passport some years ago. She met her husband and didn’t leave, but while she was [here], she maintained employment and was a productive member of society,” attorney Francis Hodgson told Judge Guy P. Ryan, characterizing the incident as simply “unfortunate.”
Hodgson also argued that Tracey had accepted responsibility for her conduct.
“[Tracey has] taken responsibility for her role in it, and this is a reasonable judgment, Judge, that is consistent with other similar-type matters that happen every day during the summer on this boardwalk,” Hodgson said.
Prosecutors told the court that the victim’s family, whose daughter was identified only by the initials M.H., agreed to the plea arrangement.
Although one of the girl’s parents attended the hearing virtually, the individual did not appear on camera or address the court directly.
Judge Ryan instead read portions of the family’s victim impact statement into the record.
“The parents recite that, ‘Thank goodness for cameras and cell phones to have documented this incident’,” he said, adding that the family comes from an immigrant background and is “proud of their country and celebrated its independence.”
“The notoriety and publicity of this matter has indicated that they’re proud of their country, love their country, they have core values and refer to the history of their family,” the judge stated.
The judge concluded by noting that the victim and her parents “look forward to justice being served, and they thank all the agencies involved.”
Tracey, who had been living in Asbury Park with her husband, Matt Geroni, for the past three years, originally faced multiple charges, including child endangerment, simple assault, harassment, and obstruction.
Following her arrest, she was initially detained at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark before being transferred to an ICE processing center in Laredo, Texas, where deportation proceedings continued.
Officials have not announced when Tracey will be returned to Canada or whether she will ever be permitted to reenter the United States. During sentencing, however, Judge Ryan indicated that any prohibition on returning would likely remain in place “for a very long time.”
Tracey’s husband did not attend Tuesday’s court hearing. Previously, he posted videos on TikTok criticizing the conditions at the Delaney Hall detention center, describing them as “horrible,” and urging followers to help secure his wife’s release from ICE custody, “even if that means back to Canada.”
Geroni, who refers to himself on social media as the “Jester of the Jersey Shore” and the “Clown of Asbury Park,” has also drawn attention for a series of inflammatory online posts.
Among them were videos posted last August in which he expressed hostility toward President Donald Trump and his family.
“Praying the entire Trump family gets cancer. And I mean everybody, like little kids ….,” one caption read alongside a video showing Geroni kneeling with his hands clasped.
In another post published the following day, he wrote, “Praying the next assassination attempt works.”
Please remove the picture of the mishgav zachor from above. I find it very offensive and not appropriate for this audience.
That is actually a picture of a woman and not a man took me also a minute to realize that
But I agree