CONCORD — Five activists arrested for protesting the state budget in June rallied with supporters Friday outside Concord District Court, where the activists had a court date to answer criminal trespass charges, and apparently failed to reach a plea deal and avoid trial.
The five protesters — Asma Elhuni, of Concord; Alison Brokenshire, of White River Junction; Dana Hackett, of Laconia, N.H.; James Graham, of Lyme; and Joy Robertson, of Keene, N.H. — were joined by about two dozen people outside the courthouse during the morning hearing.
On June 24, New Hampshire State Police arrested the activists for refusing to leave the Statehouse after it closed at 5 p.m. Members of the group were protesting policies passed into law through the state budget including a ban on teaching “divisive concepts” like systemic racism in schools, a ban on abortions after 24 weeks’ gestation, and a slew of tax cuts that Democrats have argued will help wealthy citizens and corporations.
Activists said they failed to reach a plea deal in the case, placing blame on state police.
“This morning, the state trooper assigned to our case refused to accept a reasonable plea deal that the prosecution was already on board with,” Dana Hackett said. Hackett is a member of Rights & Democracy New Hampshire, where Brokenshire and Elhuni work. “Instead, he decided to waste the money and resources taking us to trial.”
Attorney Andru Volinsky, a Rights & Democracy board member and a former executive councilor, said that protesters arrested on similar charges can usually avoid a trial and that continuing the court proceedings was a waste of state money.
Rights & Democracy Movement Politics Director Elhuni, formerly of White River Junction and Lebanon, used the protest Friday as an opportunity to reassert their displeasure with the policies they protested in June.
“The budget that the governor signed into law is immoral to its core on many levels,” Elhuni said, “including the so-called ‘divisive concepts,’ which is a part of a national cultural war agenda, to divide us as a people and to stop the possibility of talking about true history.”
At a recent school board meeting in Laconia, Hackett said, she expected to discuss city schools’ mask policy but opponents of critical race theory dominated the conversation.
“There were 50 to 100 people in that crowd spewing hate, spewing misinformation because they feel emboldened by the legislation that was just signed into law by our governor, Chris Sununu,” Hackett said.
Elhuni said Rights & Democracy will come up with ways to fight against the “divisive concepts” legislation.
One idea includes developing a toolkit for educators to explain how they can teach about racism without running afoul of the law.
A trial date has not yet been set.