Neo-Nazi Leader to Pay Thousands for Trying to Intimidate Patrons of a Drag Queen Story Hour
Christopher Hood Jr and his band of neo-Nazis stood outside a cafe yelling homophobic slurs and making Nazi salutes in 2023.
A founder of a neo-Nazi group that staged an intimidation attack on a drag queen story hour in 2023 has admitted to violating New Hampshire’s civil rights law.
He now has to pay $2,500 in civil penalties and an additional $7,500 if he fails to comply with all requirements of a court order, pursuant to an agreement with the state’s attorney general’s office announced last week. He also has to do 250 hours of community service.
Christopher R. Hood Jr. of Massachusetts and his Nazi group, the Nationalist Social Club-131, also known as NSC-131, have been sanctioned by a court in New Hampshire after Hood and 19 others appeared outside Teatotaller Cafe during a drag queen story hour on June 18, 2023, when they hurled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs, performed Nazi salutes, and banged on the cafe’s windows during the event.
A drag queen present at the cafe took a video of the incident at the time.
“We’ve got some verified Nazis today! Golly, I didn’t order those,” performer Juicy Garland posted at the time.
“This case is about one simple principle: the law applies equally to everyone, and every person is entitled to equal protection under the law,” said New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella. “No individual or organization has the right to threaten, intimidate, or coerce a New Hampshire business into violating the law or denying lawful access based on protected characteristics. The defendants have admitted their conduct violated New Hampshire’s Law Against Discrimination, accepted significant court-ordered consequences, and are permanently prohibited from future unlawful discriminatory conduct. This resolution delivers accountability and sends the message that organized hate group activity that violates the law will not be tolerated.”
The group itself is now barred from coming within 250 feet of the cafe — now known as Totally Tea and Coffee.
NSC-131 has faced other legal complaints in New Hampshire as well as in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports. The paper notes that Hood has been a member of the neo-Nazi groups the Patriot Front and the Proud Boys before he formed NSC-131 in 2019. The group’s members often hide their faces and wear khakis and black shirts.
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office said that because of the litigation against Hood and NSC-131 in the state, the group no longer operates there.
“This resolution confirms that this Office will not hesitate to enforce New Hampshire’s civil rights laws to the fullest extent possible to protect the public from harm and to hold those who violate the civil rights of others accountable,” said Senior Assistant Attorney General Sean R. Locke, Director of the Civil Rights Unit. “Through admission of statutory violations, meaningful remedies, and permanent protections to prevent future unlawful conduct, the Final Decree recognizes the significant violation of civil rights that occurred and hold Hood, NSC-131, and the other defendant accountable for their actions.”
