CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Attorney General's civil rights charges against the ring leaders of neo-Nazi organization NSC-131 were dismissed Monday after a Superior Court judge said the facts in the case were "unconstitutionally overbroad."
In the documents published in Rockingham Superior Court, Judge David W. Ruoff sided with the neo-Nazi members, saying there was not enough evidence to prove the members trespassed since the bridge they marched on could be considered public property.
"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," Ruoff wrote.
Members of NSC 131 were spotted in 2022 displaying a banner on a Route 1 overpass in Portsmouth that said "Keep New England White."
NSC 131 has an infamous history in New England, with members crashing and fighting at Drag Queen story hours in Boston, and punching counter-protesters at a march in Portland.
"The fact this group is in the news is not surprising," Professor Karyn Sporer said.
Sporer is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Maine and principal investigator for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center.
Sporer said the rise in hate groups throughout the nation was enabled by national dialogue after the Jan. 6 insurrection. She added prosecutors need a large amount of evidence if they want to go after these groups, such as NSC 131, since a lot of these cases could be decided by the First Amendment.
"Prosecutors have to walk a fine line and have a lot of evidence when it comes to free speech to ultimately using violence. And it just doesn't sound like they had anything remotely close to that with this group of guys," Sporer said.
She said a silver lining to come from these court cases is that more people are aware of this group and the legal action that can be taken.
"These folks now are known. They've been outed. We know who they are, and clearly, the criminal justice system is observing their behaviors. So, hopefully, if they mobilize to violence, they will step in before a mass casualty event," Sporer said.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Attorney General's office said they will appeal.
“The Attorney General feels this is a critical case. We will be filing a motion for reconsideration within the 10-day deadline," the spokesperson wrote.
Portland, Maine, city leaders will also discuss the neo-Nazi group and the aftermath of a march on its city hall, where members yelled homophobic and racist slurs in April. That meeting will be with the interim police chief on June 12.