New Hampshire

New Hampshire rejects calls to secede from US, but more Republicans say it should

Published

2 years ago

February 2, 2024

New Hampshire rejects calls to secede from US, but more Republicans say it should

New Hampshire lawmakers rejected the latest push for the state to secede from the union and become an independent nation on Thursday despite a growing number of Republicans in favor of secession.

The state’s House voted against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would require the state to leave the United States if the country’s debt reached $40 trillion. It also rejected a bill that would form a committee to examine the “economic, legal and sociological aspects of New Hampshire exerting its sovereign state rights.”

If the proposed amendment had succeeded, it would have gone to voters, who would need to approve the amendment by a two-thirds majority. One in 5 voters said they would consider secession in a poll by the University of New Hampshire, according to Newsweek.

“In general, the talk of secession across the states is mostly just that, talk,” Nicholas Creel, a business law professor at Georgia College and State University, told Newsweek. “We’re in a highly polarized period where the parties are very far apart ideologically, making compromise difficult. These sorts of calls for breaking up the union are deeply unserious, supported by only those who don’t fully understand what secession would entail.”

Creel added that secession itself is against the law and would require “political violence” in order to make it happen, which he said the U.S. is not prepared for.

The vote comes as a similar movement heats up in Texas, fueled in part by the border crisis. The movement has 619,000 active members and is the third-largest party in the state, behind Republicans and Democrats, according to the Texas Nationalist Movement.

“This [border] crisis directly affects the lives of Texans right here and now, prompting our independence debate even more,” said Daniel Miller, the party’s president. “So much so that the question at hand is not if Texas will achieve independence but when.”

New Hampshire Republican state Rep. Jason Gerhard, who sponsored the latest New Hampshire amendment, said his state would have an alliance with Texas if both seceded from the union.

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“Freedom is not an abstract notion, it is a way of life, and the federal government continues to overlook the freedoms of both Texas and New Hampshire,” Gerhard wrote to the Texas Nationalist Movement in a letter Wednesday. “We believe that the shared principles, desires, and plights of Texans and Granite Staters highlight the importance of maintaining a relationship with one another. As New Hampshire makes its efforts to secure independence, it promises to strengthen the voices of both regions.”

Although discussion surrounding secession has been popping up for years, no serious attempt has been made since the Civil War.

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New Hampshire

N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black

Published

9 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

N.H. woman accused of civil rights violation after allegedly shooting at lost man because he was Black

Local News

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.

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.

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.

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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New Hampshire

Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast

Published

21 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Up to 4 inches of snow expected in NH tonight. See latest forecast

It may be March, but winter in New Hampshire is far from over. Just one week after a blizzard tore through the state with heavy snow and high winds, the state is getting another round of snowfall.

The state will get three to five inches during the evening and night of Tuesday, March 3, says the National Weather Service (NWS) of Gray, Maine. While the accumulation will not be significant, the snowfall may cause dangerous road conditions and a layer of ice on the ground in certain parts of the state.

Here’s what to know before tonight’s snow in New Hampshire, including snow totals and timing.

When will it snow in NH tonight?

According to the NWS, it will start snowing in New Hampshire during mid-afternoon or early evening and continue through the night. Specifically, snow will arrive to the southern part of the state around 2-3 p.m., spreading northwards through the rest of New Hampshire by 5 p.m.

Rain or freezing rain will mix in later this evening across southern New Hampshire, creating a wintry mix. All precipitation should move out of the state by midnight.

Due to the timing of today’s snowfall, the Tuesday evening commute will be affected, with the NWS warning to slow down and exercise caution while driving.

How much snow will NH get tonight?

New Hampshire will get one to four inches of snow tonight, with one to two inches in northern New Hampshire, two to three inches in southern New Hampshire and three to four inches in the center of the state, with the possibility for five inches in localized areas.

In the Seacoast specifically, Portsmouth, Rye, Hampton and York are expected to get between two to three inches of snow, while Dover, Exeter and Rochester may get up to four.

The wintry mix may also cause a light glaze of ice across southern New Hampshire.

NH weather watches and warnings

The NWS has issued a winter weather advisory for the state of New Hampshire, in effect from 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 through 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4.