Seacoast communities unite to address rising tide of hate: 'You have to make a stand'

KITTERY, Maine — Inside the Kittery Community Center late Monday, Mark Michael Adams adamantly expressed he believes in “liberty and justice for all” and will not tolerate the belittling of marginalized groups of people.

The South Berwick resident’s remarks came prior to a well-attended community event titled Understanding and Preventing Hate-Based Activity, organized by numerous community groups and local police departments in the wake of multiple appearances in the Seacoast by a neo-Nazi group dating back to last December.

“Based on my experience, it’s always been around us,” Adams said of hateful acts. “Just the zeitgeist changes, the pendulum swings, and there are moments where these individuals and groups are more emboldened to be more public with their opinion. So, how does it make me feel? It’s infuriating. It’s heartbreaking. You have to make a stand against it and you cannot let them get momentum.”

Several dozen residents of towns and cities across the New Hampshire Seacoast and southern Maine, as well as some traveling from communities further away, gathered at the Star Theatre to discuss the rise in hate speech and demonstrations in the region.

Event attendees were broken up into small groups to discuss recent acts of hate in local communities and have the chance to speak with their respective municipal and law enforcement leaders on how to address such incidents.

“This is a very important subject, especially with the recent activity we’ve seen along the Seacoast,” said Kittery Police Chief Robert Richter. “It’s wonderful to see that people care enough to come out and have what sometimes is a tough conversation.”

Hate group makes multiple appearances in Seacoast communities

On the forefront of attendees’ minds was the Nationalist Social Club, otherwise known as NSC-131, a recognized hate group that formed in eastern Massachusetts in 2019, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Members of the neo-Nazi group left recruitment flyers on Kittery and Portsmouth properties in July, in addition to standing mask-clad outside the Kittery Trading Post holding a sign promoting white supremacy. NSC-131 also protested a drag story hour for children at the Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth in late 2021, with some members holding a banner containing a derogatory message about drag queens.

While the Nationalist Social Club has appeared on the Seacoast, other hate groups have been active in Maine and New Hampshire, according to Zandra Rice Hawkins, executive director of Granite State Progress.

Other active groups include the “Three Percenters,” a militia-minded group that believes a small number of “patriots” should protect Americans from government tyranny; the Oathkeepers and the Proud Boys, two separate groups involved in the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021; and Patriot Front, a white supremacist group responsible for the highest dissemination of white supremacist propaganda in the country over the last few years.

Hawkins told the crowd that the Southern Poverty Law Center releases an annual report outlining what hate groups are active in each state and that New Hampshire typically sees six to 10 groups present.

“Our experience on the ground is that some of the groups that they name are very active. Others are kind of loose-knit or are emerging that maybe those of us in our communities have experienced but haven’t really hit the national radar yet,” she said.

What to do if you experience a hate crime

Capt. David Keaveny of the Portsmouth Police Department gave a presentation detailing what constitutes a hate crime and what people can do if they are a victim of a hate crime.

A hate crime, he explained, is a crime that is committed with a motivation based on bias.

People who believe they may be the victim of a hate crime were encouraged to report it to local authorities, seek medical attention if necessary, document all speech and physical evidence from the incident and compile the names and contacts of other victims or witnesses.

In 2020, the FBI found there were 8,052 “single-bias” hate crime incidents around the country, with 11,126 victims involved, per an event pamphlet distributed to attendees.

The Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath of the New Hampshire Council of Churches led a reflection toward the end of the event, pausing to ask how many attendees had feelings of fear due to the rise in hateful incidents.

“One of the goals of hate groups is to drive us to despair, to the belief that our collective voices can’t change the tide,” she said. “But they can, and I suspect in your hearts you know that because you are here.”

The event Understanding and Preventing Hate-Based Activity was put on by numerous organizations and agencies: Granite State Progress, the New Hampshire Council of Churches, New Hampshire Listens, United Against Hate on the Seacoast, local school districts, and police departments in Kittery, Portsmouth, South Berwick, Ogunquit, Dover and from the University of New Hampshire.

An online version of the event is being held Thursday evening from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Pre-registration is required.

Information: kitteryme.gov/home/events/74651

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast communities in NH, Maine unite to address rising tide of hate