Miscellany Blue

29/10/2024

Supporters of the GOP candidate for Strafford County N.H. sheriff tout his membership in an anti-government extremist group at the center of the fringe constitutional sheriff movement. Follow the link to read the full story and subscribe for free updates.

Supporters of the GOP candidate for Strafford County N.H. sheriff tout his membership in an anti-government extremist group at the center of the fringe constitutional sheriff movement.

22/10/2024

An announcement promoting a “Fascist Meetup” at a Manchester restaurant drew reactions from groups who protested the event and others who supported it. The meetup was billed as a gathering that would “spark thought-provoking conversations and inspire action towards our shared goals.”

Anti-fascist protesters organized rallies at the site of the proposed gathering; white nationalists signaled their support with plans to visit.

08/10/2024

An outspoken Christian nationalist pastor, who rejects the separation of church & state and urges like-minded religious leaders to get more involved in politics, is bringing his MAGA-inspired message of election denial, COVID conspiracy & government tyranny to NH.

Rev. William Cook hopes to recruit area pastors to get more involved in local politics with a MAGA-inspired message of election denial, COVID conspiracy, and government tyranny.

28/03/2022

An outspoken white supremacist and Holocaust denier has announced he is running for a seat in the NH House of Representatives. Ryan J. Murdough, a 41-year-old licensed nursing assistant, says he is running to oppose "Jewish power" and will run as a Republican.

This will be Murdough's second run for a seat in the state legislature. In 2010, the state GOP disavowed his candidacy after the Monitor published his letter to the editor calling on NH whites to "preserve their racial identity" and establish "their own homeland."

“Mr. Murdough is a despicable racist, the NHGOP spokesman said then. "His racist views are abhorrent and he is not welcome in the NH GOP.” Despite that denunciation, Murdough went on to receive 296 votes in the primary, finishing 161 behind the winners.

Murdough again made headlines in 2018 when, writing under the "NH Nationalists" banner, he published personal info identifying officials who had met to explore diversifying the state's workforce. Several attendees subsequently received threatening calls & emails.

Murdough has exchanged his "NH Nationalists" banner for "New England White Network" and continues churning out racist, antisemitic, and homophobic commentary in white nationalist channels and doxing progressive NH activists and public officials.

White grievance politics embraced by the GOP provides a platform for this NH House race by Murdough, one that promises to amplify the anti-CRT, "divisive concepts" dog whistles and turn it up to 11 with an unapologetically racist and antisemitic campaign.

“An outspoken white supremacist and Holocaust denier has announced he is running for a seat in the NH House of Representatives. Ryan J. Murdough, a 41-year-old licensed nursing assistant, says he is running to oppose "Jewish power" and will run as a Republican. 🧵”

02/02/2022

Saying the quiet part out loud. Free State Project board member Jeremy Kauffman describes NH's school choice program as "a stepping stone towards reducing or eliminating state involvement in schools" and acknowledges that "the entire program is run by Free Staters."

24/01/2022

Meet Chris Rufer, the California tomato 🍅 tycoon and libertarian megadonor 💰 behind the shadowy Respect New Hampshire free market advocacy campaign.

Rufer founded The Morning Star Company, which supplies 40% of the US market for tomato paste & diced tomatoes 🍅. He has donated over $5 million to GOP & Libertarian candidates & PACs and up to $1 million/yr to the Koch network 💰.

Closer to home, Rufer donated $295k to Make Liberty Win, a PAC that spent $632k on 79 NH House & NH Senate "liberty" candidates in 2020. He has given the max $5800 to Tim Baxter's NH01 campaign, 1 of just 5 congressional candidates Rufer has supported this cycle.

In January 2021, articles of incorporation for two new nonprofits, Respect America Inc. & Respect America Foundation Inc., were filed with the Idaho Secretary of State's office. Chris Rufer & two longtime associates are listed as directors of the two nonprofits.

Why Idaho? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But the original registered agent for both companies was Dustin Hurst of Idaho Freedom Foundation, a libertarian think tank & member of the rightwing State Policy Network funded w/ Koch network dark money. And there's a Respect Idaho website.

The IRS has granted 501(c)(3) status to Respect America Foundation & 501(c)(4) status to Respect America Inc. They share a Sacramento address with Advocates for Self-Government & The Foundation for Harmony and Prosperity, related nonprofits overseen by Rufer.

In Feb 2021, Respect NH's Andrew Demers registered as a lobbyist w/ the NH Sec of State's office. He identified his client as "Respect NH, a project of Respect America." In May, Respect America registered the Respect NH logo for trademark protection w/ the USPTO.

Respect NH describes itself as "an independent community dedicated to giving Granite Staters a voice in state & local government" but the lack of transparency about who is behind it & how it is funded suggests this ostensibly grassroots campaign is anything but.

“Meet Chris Rufer, the California tomato 🍅 tycoon and libertarian megadonor 💰 behind the shadowy Respect New Hampshire free market advocacy campaign. 🧵 (Photo: Gage Skidmore/CC BY-SA 2.0)”

27/03/2021

THREAD. Last week, the Word of Life Christian Fellowship Church in Concord hosted a speech by Rob Grillo, president of NH Proud Boys, local chapter of the neo-fascist group prosecutors describe as one of the chief instigators of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

“Last week, the Word of Life Christian Fellowship in Concord hosted a speech by Rob Grillo, president of NH Proud Boys, local chapter of the neo-fascist group prosecutors describe as one of the chief instigators of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol. 1/”