CONCORD, NH – New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella is taking action after members of a white supremacist group made online threats against state Rep. Manny Espitia, D-Nashua.
“The Civil Rights Unit has initiated an investigation and that investigation remains active and ongoing,” said Kate Giaquinto, Director of Communications for the Attorney General.
Espitia, president of the New Hampshire Young Democrats, recently took exception to members of the Nationalist Social Club, also known as NCS 131, putting up graffiti and stickers with their hate slogans in his neighborhood.
“To have that kind of language in that neighborhood is horrendous,” Espitia said.
Espitia posted photos of the graffiti on social media, and members of NSC 131 resounded on their Telegram page, singling out Espitia.
“You have no right to be here, you’re an occupier here & the days of these types trampling on New England are coming to an end,” an anonymous NSC 131 poster wrote.
After the white supremacist threat caused uproar among New Hampshire politicians on both sides, Rep. Renny Cushing, D-Hampton, called for Formella and acting U.S. Attorney John Farley to step in. FBI representatives declined to comment on Monday if any federal investigation is underway.
Espitia is gratified the threat is being taken seriously by so many including Formella, and he’s grateful that the people in his community are pushing back against the hate group.
“There’s definitely a strong community behind me and a lot of folks have reached out,” Espitia said. “There’s a strong commitment to work on this.”
When NSC 131 graffiti and stickers go up, people in Espitia’s neighborhood are quick to take it down, he said. The organization is mostly known for disseminating hate propaganda.
NSC 131 was founded in eastern Massachusetts and its members are tied to violent neo-Nazi groups like The Base, Aryan Strike and Patriot Front. The group has off-shoot chapters in Europe and some southern states. NSC 131 graffiti has been spotted all throughout southern New Hampshire, and the group held a recent protest in front of Nashua’s city hall.
The group is virulently anti-Semitic and calls for expelling Jewish people from the United States. The group also calls for violence against Jews and minorities.
