By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
The cause of death for New Hampshire’s neo-Nazi leader Leo Anthony Cullinan won’t be released until toxicology test results are finalized.
“At this point we are awaiting toxicology results and will not be releasing any more information until they are completed,” Heather Hamel, Manchester police spokesman, said Friday.
Officials confirmed Cullinan’s death Monday, but little information has been released about it, except that Cullinan, 35, head of the local branch of NSC-131, the Nationalist Social Club, was reportedly found dead in Manchester that morning.
Court records show a Manchester address for Cullinan, who has served jail and prison time over the years on drug-related charges, stalking and assault charges. He was released in April from Hillsborough County jail, but has pending criminal charges against hm for allegedly assaulting a corrections officer while incarcerated there, according to court records.
Cullinan’s death was reported less than a day after the neo-Nazi group targeted the Teatotaller Café in Concord last Sunday morning with a gathering of masked individuals chanting bigoted statements and performing the Nazi salute. They took credit for the Teatotaller incident on their official Telegram channel.
In Concord, the group wore face masks and it was not known if Cullinan was present Sunday.
NSC-131 stands for Nationalist Social Club that posts on the phone app Telegram.
Christopher Hood, who along with Cullinan had been charged with civil rights violations by Attorney General John Formella is now raising money online for Cullinan’s funeral expenses “and to help his wife and children with any expenses they have now.
“Eternal Glory to one of the finest New Englanders we’ve ever known. A father, a friend, and a hero of our people. Leo Cullinan 1988-2023,” the Telegram’s NSC-131 post read. The fundraiser had raised $8,200 as of Friday night.
Kristofer Goldsmith, head of the veteran operated anti-fascist group Task Force Butler, said in a report that Cullinan had a long and violent criminal history that included drug convictions and assaults.
Hood, Cullinan and NSC-131 were charged by Formella with civil rights violations after they allegedly hung a banner from a Route 1 overpass in Portsmouth last year that said, “Keep New England White.”
Rockingham Superior Court Judge David Ruoff ruled the demonstration protected by the First Amendment and the state is now appealing that ruling in the cases of Hood and NSC-131.
The group posted photos and videos of their demonstration in Concord, shouting bigoted slogans and giving a Nazi salute outside the Teatotaller Café, while a drag queen story hour was going on inside.
On Twitter, drag queen Juicy Garland said the show went on anyway.
“I do story hours there about monthly. The cafe (and community) there is FANTASTIC and fascist outsiders came in to make it miserable. We prevailed and had a great time with the families anyways,” Garland wrote.