State Supreme Court sides with neo-Nazi group over racist banner

The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in favor of a neo-Nazi group on Friday after a civil suit against the group was declared “unconstitutional.”

Prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office alleged that the group, known as Nationalist Social Club-131, broke the law when it displayed a “Keep New England White” banner without a permit from an overpass in 2022.

It said the state’s interpretation of the law imposes government sanctions on those who unintentionally enter public property, including those who do so motivated by characteristics listed in the law.

These characteristics include race, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability.

However, the state Supreme Court ruled in agreement with a lower court who said in 2023 that prosecutors’ interpretation of the law was unconstitutionally overboard.

“Content-based restrictions must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest,” the justices wrote, dismissing the charges on free speech grounds.

“Such a broad scope discourages the expression of certain messages for fear of government sanctions under the law based on the content of the messages expressed,” the court wrote.

The court also said it was “not satisfied” that the complaints “sufficiently allege” that the class members knowingly committed violations.

NSC-131 founder Christopher R. Hood Jr. and another group member who has since died, Leo Anthony Cullinan, were charged with racially motivated illegal offenses when about ten members hung the banner above the bypass.

The complaint against them asked the judge to issue an order banning the group and its members from engaging in threatening violence or discriminatory behavior for three years.

However, Rockingham County Superior Court Judge David W. Ruoff warned that the same prosecutorial tactics could be used against others who would like to talk about race publicly without engaging in violence. This is reported by the Boston Globe.

“For example, someone protesting on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement would face the very real threat of prosecution for demonstrating on public property,” Ruoff wrote in 2023.

“On that basis, many such protesters would suppress these views and refrain from expressing them in public spaces based on their reasonable perception that the government or its actors do not share these views.”

The group’s attorney, William E. Gens, said the banner “certainly contained a pointed message” but argued it was similar to a slogan like “Keep Harlem Black.”

Gens then argued that the government should not prosecute people for expressing such ideas.

“Aside from things that incite riots or create a public health hazard… it is better to make these statements public,” Gens argued.

Gens said he was “very satisfied with the decision, and it was based on arguments we had been making all along.”

The attorney general’s office said it was disappointed with the court’s decision but respects it, spokesman Michael Garrity said in a statement.

Just last year, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire said NSC-131’s message was “hateful and abhorrent,” but such a case would “attack the freedom of expression of all of us” if the court were to rule against the group.

However, the court ruling has not ended the legal battle the group is facing.

In 2023, the attorney general’s office filed a second case against NSC-131, Hood and 19 other unnamed defendants for intimidation tactics outside a cafe hosting a drag queen story hour event in Concord.

Drag queen Juicy Garland posted a video to

The attorney general’s office alleges the group attempted to get the venue to cancel the event by intimidating and harassing attendees based on sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

This complaint is still being investigated by the Public Prosecution Service.

NSC-131 is identified as a neo-Nazi group based in New England and founded in 2019. The “131” part of the name refers to the alphanumeric code for ACA, Anti-Communist Action, and Anti-Capitalist Action.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group identifies itself as a “pro-white, street-oriented fraternity committed to inspiring AUTHENTIC resistance against the enemies of our people in the New England region.”

The group said in 2022, according to the ADL, that its “enemies are working tirelessly” to prevent white men from achieving “the greatest sense of purpose and belonging that a man could ever achieve.”

“What you see here are brothers united in battle, waging a metapolitical war against those who want to see our people dead, and the stakes have never been higher,” they said.

“We cannot offer you an easy life, but we can promise you an eternity of brotherhood, fulfillment and legacy that will come from participating in this war to survive at the highest level sustainably possible.”

The group said action against its “enemies” takes the form of networking, training, activism, outreach and “above all, ACTION.”

According to the ADL, the group typically spreads propaganda, participates in public demonstrations, organizes private meetings for networking, firearms or fitness training, and attempts to “troll” or harass its “enemies.”