By Staff Report
CONCORD – Attorney General John Formella has initiated an enforcement action against Nationalist Social Club-131 (“NSC-131”), Christopher Hood, and 19 John Does for violating the New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination, RSA Chapter 354-A.
The civil complaint alleges that on June 18, 2023, Hood led a group of 19 NSC-131 members in an attempt to incite, compel, or coerce the Teatotaller Café in Concord to cancel a planned drag queen story hour event and to terrorize the café into refusing performers access to its venue for no other reason than the sex, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity of those performers.
The complaint alleges that Hood and the other men stood outside the café and for over an hour, faced into the café shouting homophobic slurs and phrases, loudly chanting and saluting in a fashion reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The complaint alleges that the men, led by Hood, banged on the café’s glass windows, and made intimidating gestures and comments directed at the performer and those in the café. The complaint alleges that these actions, taken together, constituted an attempt to incite, compel, or coerce the Teatotaller Café into violating the Law Against Discrimination.
The group of young men wearing baseball caps and mostly concealing their faces descended on the Teatotaller Cafe that morning as drag performer Juicy Garland was reading to children and families at the brunch spot.
“I do story hours there… The cafe (and community) there is FANTASTIC and racist outsiders came in to make it miserable,” Garland wrote on Twitter after the incident. “We prevailed and had a great time with the families anyway.”
Videos of the young men show them giving Nazi salutes and shouting racist slogans outside Teatotaller Cafe.
Emmett Soldati, Teatotaller’s owner, said on Twitter after the incident that groups like the gang that showed up at his restaurant will not stop it from hosting drag queen-related events.
“We’ve been hosting shows + story hours for a decade. We’re going to host them for decades to come,” Soldati said on Twitter.
The case is being brought by the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Unit.
“Acts of hate designed to terrorize an individual or business into violating our State’s antidiscrimination laws are simply wrong and will not be tolerated,” Formella said. “The Department of Justice will continue to enforce the State’s antidiscrimination laws to the greatest extent possible to ensure that people of all backgrounds can live free from discrimination, fear, and intimidation because of who they are. We must and will send a clear message that New Hampshire is not and never will be a safe haven for hate groups that commit illegal acts that harm our citizens.”
The complaint alleges that NSC-131 is an unincorporated association with members in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and other New England states, according to a news release from Formella.
As an unincorporated association, NSC-131 can be charged with violating the Law Against Discrimination. The complaints allege that at least twenty members of NSC-131, including Hood, participated in the violation of the Law Against Discrimination and that NSC-131 can therefore be liable for violating the Law Against Discrimination, the release said.
The civil complaint alleges that Hood, NSC-131, and the nineteen Does’ actions were motivated by sex, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity, the release said.
A violation of the Law Against Discrimination can lead to an administrative fine of $10,000. Violations of the Law Against Discrimination also empower the court to take necessary steps to ensure that future unlawful acts of discrimination do not occur.
The Law Against Discrimination requires that all discrimination complaints be filed with the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights and permit plaintiffs to request authorization to remove those complaints to court. The Civil Rights Unit has requested that the Commission for Human Rights grant it the ability to proceed directly to court.
Anyone who believes their civil rights have been violated may file a complaint at https://www.doj.nh.gov/civil-rights/index.htm or by calling 603-271-3650.
