NH judge denies neo-Nazi group's bid to dismiss charges

“This ruling reinforces our commitment to uphold the rule of law and protect all New Hampshire residents from unlawful discrimination,” state Attorney General John M. Formella said in a statement. “Our office will continue to pursue justice in this case and work to ensure that New Hampshire remains free and welcoming for people of all beliefs and backgrounds.”

Formella’s office brought the allegations against NSC-131, founder Christopher Hood, and 19 unidentified co-defendants in December 2023, accusing them of engaging in intimidation tactics outside the Teatotaller Café, an eatery and venue in Concord, on June 18, 2023.

William Gens, an attorney representing Hood and NSC-131, called the case “a textbook example of ‘Lawfare,’” which he described as “the weaponization of the legal process against political or ideological opponents, particularly by the government.”

“In lawfare, the end results do not matter as much as the intimidation, expense, and burden of being dragged through the legal process by an adversary with unlimited resources,” Gens said in a text message Saturday night. “The Superior Court’s ruling takes a highly constrictive approach to the rights of free speech and expression that we expect will not survive judicial scrutiny but will function to further the lawfare agenda of the current AG regime.”

Prosecutors allege the group sought to coerce the venue to cancel its drag story hour event based on the sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity of the drag performers.

According to the order, 20 white men dressed in black shirts, khaki- and tan-colored pants, black face coverings, dark sunglasses, and baseball hats showed up outside the café about 15 minutes before the 11 am story hour was set to begin. Hood, who did not wear a face covering, allegedly moved through the group as he recorded video.

The café occupies two stories and has a front entrance on Main Street, while the back portion faces Capital Plaza through large windows.

The men allegedly stood along the café’s windows holding a banner that read “Defend White Communities” along with the group’s name and an LGBTQ+ Pride rainbow flag crossed out in black. Some members allegedly began banging on the windows and extended their middle fingers toward the drag performer, who was inside with families and children attending the event.

The men also allegedly began chanting, “Sieg Heil,” and, “Heil Hitler,” while giving the Nazi salute as others shouted homophobic slurs and comments, according to court records. The chants went on for an hour and a half, according to prosecutors.

The café’s manager decided to move the story hour to the second floor and asked the New Hampshire Peacekeeping Project to send representatives to help prevent the situation from escalating. Two peacekeepers and police went to the café, according to court records.

The building’s owner later arrived and urged police to disperse the group. The owner also spoke to Hood, telling him the plaza was private property and that the group had to leave. The group then moved onto Main Street and eventually left the area, shortly before the story hour concluded.

Following Wednesday’s order, the attorney general’s office said its civil rights unit “will continue to pursue the case to ensure that Hood, NSC-131, and any others involved in the demonstration are held accountable for their hateful conduct.”

NSC-131 was founded in 2019 by Hood, who grew up in Malden and was previously associated with the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group that rose in the aftermath of the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Hood, who oversaw Patriot Front’s Massachusetts chapter, was eventually pushed out as the group’s national leadership considered him too undisciplined in his public messaging and too open to violence to remain in the group, according to internal Patriot Front communications previously reported by the Globe.

NSC-131 has described itself as a “pro-white, street-oriented fraternity dedicated to raising AUTHENTIC resistance to the enemies of our people in the New England area.” The group has targeted drag story hours and other community events around New England, distributing Nazi literature, hanging anti-Semitic and racist banners, chanting slurs at marginalized groups, and sparring with counterprotesters.

In February, about 25 NSC-131 members assembled outside Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s home with their faces covered holding a banner that read, “We’re not going anywhere.” A supporter of the group wrote on social media at the time that its members were there to “raise awareness” about what he described as a “migrant invasion” of Massachusetts.

In June 2023, a New Hampshire judge dismissed a trespassing case brought against the group after members displayed a “Keep New England White” banner from a highway overpass in Portsmouth, NH, without a permit. The judge agreed to dismiss the trespass complaints, saying prosecutors’ interpretation of the state’s Civil Rights Act was unconstitutionally overbroad.

Material from previous Globe coverage and the Associated Press was used in this report.

Nick Stoico can be reached at [email protected].