PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Neo-Nazi group leaders told a judge no local attorneys have been willing to represent them. The judge told them they needed local representation if they wanted an attorney, and denied their request for a Massachusetts-based attorney.
The leaders, Christopher Hood and Leo Anthony Cullinan, are charged with violating New Hampshire civil rights laws after they were seen hanging a banner over Route 1 in Portsmouth with the text saying: "Keep New England white."
Sean Locke, leader of the New Hampshire Attorney General's office for Civil Rights, told NEWS CENTER Maine on Monday it was the fact the group pinned the sign to city property that violates civil rights laws.
"When those incidents cross the line, and when they are no longer First Amendment activity, we are responsible in pursuing that to the furthest extent of the law," Locke said.
That furthest extent, he said, would result in a $5,000 fine for each member charged, along with a restraining order.
Locke said a restraining order would make any further actions that broke the civil rights laws a criminal act.
"So that communities know New Hampshire is a safe and welcoming place. They shouldn't have to live in fear because of who they are," Locke said.
Hood and Cullinan, if they cannot find representation, would stand trial by themselves.
They are not entitled to a public defender, Locke said, as it is a civil matter.
NSC 131 is not new. The neo-Nazi group protested in Boston and in Lewiston within the last year. When they visited Maine in October 2022, they targeted the Somali community there.
Also last fall, VICE News originally reported a neo-Nazi influencer, with a significant following on fringe extremist groups, was identified in the NSC 131 protest in Lewiston. It was also reported he moved to Maine, a state he identified as his target for creating a white "ethnostate," due to its high population of white people.
In an interview with VICE News, Pohlhaus said it's not about getting along with people of other races, but about power.
"Where does the Arian get to cash out? We bled out a lot... since the Civil War, dude," Pohlhaus told VICE News. "It's literal power."
But for the people who advocate for refugees and immigrants in Lewiston, the presence of NSC 131, even with an extremist influencer tagging along, does not deter their efforts.
"They don't know who we are, and they cannot instill fear in us. Together we thrive. We have established tolerance," Fatuma Hussein said.
Hussein started the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine in the early 2000s in response to the influx of refugees to Maine. She said then that hate groups wrote letters to deter them.
"They showed up. We stood together as a community, and we came out of it as one larger community," Hussein said. "We came from war-torn backgrounds. We have a second chance of life. This group, and the noise they make, does nothing to us."
While Pohlhaus has not been charged, the leaders of the neo-Nazi group he was spotted with have an expected trial date for some time in late July.