By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
PORTSMOUTH – The civil case against two leading Neo-Nazis who hung a racist banner above Route 1 has been dismissed after a judge ruled the state’s case is unconstitutional.
Christopher Hood, Leo Anthony Cullinan, and their group, NSC-131, were charged with violating the state’s Civil Rights Act for hanging the banner proclaiming “Keep New England White” on a Route 1 overpass in Portsmouth last summer.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella’s case hinges on the allegation that Hood, Cullinan and their group trespassed on what is essentially public property when they hung the banner. Rockingham Superior Court Judge David Ruoff ruled this week that argument does not pass constitutional muster.
“The conduct alleged in the Complaints, while reprehensible by most civilized standards, does not fit any definition of ‘trespass’ other than the one the Court has concluded is unconstitutional (at least as to public property,)” Ruoff wrote.
Michael Garrity, communications director for Formella’s office, said the Attorney General is not done with NSC-131. Ruoff is allowing the state 10-days to file a challenge to his ruling.
“The Attorney General feels this is a critical case. We will be filing a motion for reconsideration within the 10-day deadline,” Garrity said.
Experts consider NSC-131, also known as the Nationalist Social Club, a terrorist organization that is actively planning and carrying out a campaign of violence and intimidation primarily aimed at the LGBTQ community.
Kristopher Goldsmith, head of Task Force Butler, a group of military veteran volunteers who investigate hate groups, said NSC-131 is dangerous and needs to be prosecuted.
Task Force Butler recently released a 300-page report on NSC-13, which is based in New England and active throughout New Hampshire.
“NSC-131 remains a violent terrorist gang that primarily functions to plan, train, and obtain weapons for the explicit purpose of engaging in acts of violence and harassment against religious, racial, and ethnic minorities, the LGBTQIA+ community, and others deemed ‘enemies’ by NSC-131’s leader Christopher Hood of Newburyport, MA,” the report, dubbed Project Husky, states.
Hood has ties to several other violent white supremacist groups, and his organization is behind a wave of violence across New England in the last 18 months. Goldsmith said Hood’s group is engaging in stochastic terrorism, using violent rhetoric and propaganda to inspire real-life violence.
Last month, Salem’s Kyle Morris, 23, was sentenced to federal prison for owning machine guns. Morris allegedly planned violent attacks on minorities, including suicidal mass shootings and a terror attack that would end with blowing up the Massachusetts State House. Morris is also a member of NSC-131, according to court records.
Representatives with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office have held at least one meeting with Goldsmith and Task Force Butler to discuss NSC-131 and its tactics.