A year later, most of the charges brought against people who joined large Palestinian solidarity protests at Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire have been dropped.
The demonstrations were part of a wave of activism around the country in response to the war in Gaza. And the protests on May 1, 2024, specifically, drew an intense police response — then-Gov. Chris Sununu sent state troopers to both campuses.
New reporting from the Concord Monitor casts doubt on police accounts about what happened at UNH that night, where roughly a dozen people were arrested. (Most of those charges were dropped within months.)
At Dartmouth College, 89 people were arrested. Prosecutors recently dropped the final two pending cases against Hanover residents Julianne Borger and Christian Harris, on the condition that they stay off campus and agree to maintain good behavior.
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Both Borger and Harris grew up in the Upper Valley. Borger, a long-time resident of Lebanon, said they initially showed up last May 1 for a May Day rally but stuck around to support student demonstrations, when they realized a protest for Palestine was happening.
Borger described the day as peaceful, with speeches and songs. Police were called in, Borger said, after students decided to erect tents on the campus lawn.
As the night drew on, Borger said they were concerned to see the Dartmouth Green — an area they have long known as a community gathering space — filling up with officers bearing shields, batons and long guns.
“We weren’t hurting anyone. We weren’t doing anything hateful,” Borger said. “I think that that’s sort of like a big takeaway for me, is that this should be the town square.”
Harris, Borger’s partner, grew up in Hanover and has deep ties to Dartmouth; his father worked there, so he always felt safe on campus. He felt relief that the charges were dropped, but the intensity of events last May is still shocking to him.
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“There’s still just a ton of frustration around that night, how it was handled,” Harris said. “That frustration has now led to anger, given the kind of current state of affairs with this current administration. That night was scary, but I think it was also more indicative of things to come and I think that’s really been kind of the tragedy of it all.”
As American citizens, Borger and Harris both say they currently feel secure in their ability to protest without serious consequences. But since last May, they have been concerned about the future of protesting in America, especially for students and the international community on college campuses.
They both plan to continue to support Dartmouth students who are speaking out on campus. Outside of their own grievances and legal battles, Harris said he feels that the college created a kind of manufactured consent to discourage more protests.
“I think [Dartmouth] paved the way for what we’re currently seeing with this current administration, rounding up people and forgoing due process, forgoing the laws that are there to protect the rights that we do have,” Harris said. “I think the actions of Dartmouth really laid the groundwork for people to allow this to occur and you know we’re seeing push back now. It’s just unfortunate that it might be too little too late for a lot of folks.”
WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
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