By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office failed again in its quest to bring civil charges against members of white supremacist hate gang, NSC-131.
Rockingham Superior Court Judge Davis Ruoff rejected the state’s latest effort to punish the gang for hanging a “Keep New England White” banner off the Route 1 overpass in Portsmouth.
Ruoff dismissed the case in June, siding with lawyers for NSC-131 leaders Christopher Hood and Leo Cullinan who argued the prosecution violated their rights to protest. The state filed a motion to reconsider the dismissal, claiming Ruoff got the Civil Rights Act wrong when he ruled against the Attorney General.
Cullinan died of a drug overdose this summer.
However, in his Oct. 17 order, Ruoff wrote the broad interpretation the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office wants to apply to the Civil Rights Act in order to justify going after NSC-131 would punish all kinds of political speech and would lead to significant violations of the First Amendment.
“(T)the broader interpretation raises a concern for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement where regulation of the conduct and speech does not serve the goals of the Civil Rights Act, leaves similar conduct unenforced, or risks the government bringing sanctions against only those messages with which it disagrees,” Ruoff wrote.
Prosecutors want to punish Hood and his NSC-131 gang for last July’s white supremacist demonstration. The case claims the group broke the Civil Rights Act by trespassing in order to hang the “Keep New England White” banner.
According to court records, Hood and his gang hung the banner on the overpass fence with zip ties. Portsmouth Police officers responded to the area and informed NSC-131 members they need a permit to hang banners. At this point, the group took the banner off of the zip ties and held signs in their hands. After about 20 minutes, the group left without incident.
The trespassing in this case was hanging the banner without a permit, and the state wanted to bring the enhanced Civil Right Act trespassing penalties against Hood and his group since they did not have a permit when they hung the banner. Under the Attorney General’s preferred interpretation of the law, it does not matter that NSC-131 members did not know they needed a permit, since they were spreading hate.
While Ruoff agrees that the state has a legitimate interest in stopping the spread of hate, it is off-base in using the law in this case. Ruoff wrote the government’s preferred application of the Civil Rights Act would chill legitimate speech across the board, and the Constitution requires that the Civil Rights Act instead be applied narrowly.
As such, since Hood and his gang did not know they needed a permit, they cannot be charged with trespassing.
“(B)ecause the State does not allege that the defendants in this case knew they were not licensed or privileged to enter and remain on the overpass in question or affix banners to the overpass fencing, the Complaint must be dismissed,” Ruoff wrote.
Michael Garrity, spokesman for New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella told InDepthNH.org Ruoff’s ruling is still being digested.
“The Office is reviewing the judge’s order and determining what next steps it plans to take,” Garrity said.
This is so far the only state prosecution of any NSC-131 member. The group is considered violent and dangerous by experts, and it has been linked to dozens of violent incidents throughout New England.
In May, NSC-131 member Kyle Morris, 23, of Salem, 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.