The four anti-Israel protesters who broke windows, blocked access and brandished “incendiary devices” at Elbit Systems in Merrimack last year will walk on all felony counts and serve just 60 days for misdemeanors, according to the organization supporting them.
“After dismantling an Israeli weapons factory in the US, four actionists will serve 60 days in jail. They sacrificed their liberty to #ShutElbitDown, and will be imprisoned for trying to stop a genocide,” the organization Palestine Action posted on social media.
Calla Walsh, 19, Bridget Shergalis, 27, and Sophie Ross, 22, were all arrested on Nov. 20, 2023 for vandalizing the Merrimack facility. A fourth suspect, Paige Belanger, 32, was arrested later.
In January 2024, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella took over the case personally.
“We took these cases because of the important civil rights and public protection interests involved,” Formella said at the time. “We will do everything we can to ensure that these cases are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and that justice is served.”
In February, Formella’s office announced a grand jury had indicted the three original suspects with riot, conspiracy to commit criminal mischief, burglary, and conspiracy to commit falsifying physical evidence “for their actions in climbing to the roof of Elbit Systems of America, creating a disturbance, and causing property damage. Each charge is a class B felony, punishable by 3.5 to 7 years in the state prison.”
But now it appears the felony counts against the protesters have been dropped.
Walsh, perhaps the most prominent of the defendants, announced the case had been settled and posted on her social media feed, “I’ll post the information on how to send me letters and books in jail.” She also linked to posts regarding the state of her case, reports Palestine Action also promoted on social media.
“Four Palestine Action activists were facing extreme felony charges for attacking the Elbit Systems facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire on 20 November 2023,” a post at the anti-Israel website Mondoweiss reports. “Now, the Merrimack 4 are resolving their case and will serve 60 days in county jail as Amerikan [sic] justice for resisting genocide and disrupting production at the largest zionist [sic] weapons company.”
According to the post, Formella has dropped all felony charges, and the defendants are pleading to misdemeanor criminal mischief and criminal trespass.
“Their sentence includes 60 days in jail, a 24-month suspended sentence for 3 years, and a stay-away order from every Elbit Systems facility, among other conditions.”
“Losing comrades to jail, even for a short period, is painful for the movement,” the post adds, “but the Merrimack 4’s defeat of felony charges and avoidance of decades in prison is a major win against repression.”
Formella’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Walsh is an unapologetic supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, and she has publicly mourned the death of Hezbollah terror master Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans, and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris called Nasrallah “a terrorist with American blood on his hands.”
Walsh also defends the October 7 terror attack by Hamas on Israel, referring to it as the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” the same language used by antisemitic terrorists.
Walsh and Ross still face charges for their attack on the Elbit Systems office in Cambridge, Mass. last October, when they were arrested for vandalizing property and disorderly conduct.
Elbit Systems did not respond to emails from NHJournal.