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At least 30 New Hampshire Republicans had their cars keyed, and several more received threatening messages as they participated in last weekend’s GOP biennial convention, part of a trend of rising political violence from the left.

“I didn’t expect this when I ran for representative, but it’s not going to stop me,” said state Rep. Lorie Ball (R-Salem.)

Ball was one of approximately 350 delegates who showed up at Concord High School on Saturday to conduct state party business and participate in the democratic process. Like more than two dozen other delegates, her car was damaged by vandals who appear to have targeted the GOP event. 

Di Lothrop, a party delegate and Nashua Republican Party leader is another vandalism victim distraught by the seeming hate behind the targeted strike in Concord. For Lothrop, it’s not the damage to her car but the damage people are exhibiting in their character.

“My husband Chuck and I are delegates. We were parked on the street adjacent to the high school’s main entrance on Warren Street,” she told NHJournal. “After the meeting, when we walked back to our car, my husband immediately noticed that our car had been keyed all along the driver’s side. The car in front of us had been keyed, too, as had several other cars along the same road.

“It seems as if someone knew there was a Republican event going on at the high school, and this was their chance to tell Republicans they hate us,” Lothrop said. “Divisiveness at its worst!”

In Ball’s case, the attacks go beyond damaging her car. She has also been subject to harassing and threatening phone calls and messages. In one case, she received a letter with an image of a gun and a handwritten message urging that someone “blow a f***ing hole in a gun owner’s head today. Save our children from GOP pr*cks.” Ball has since contacted police about the gun letter and has been in touch with the FBI about that threat.

And like many of her fellow House Republicans, a letter was sent to Ball’s home in January that referenced a recent vote and called her a “n*gger.”

Another victim of the car vandals, state Rep. Julius Soti (R-Windham), said the political temperature keeps rising in the state, and divisive language keeps ramping up. Soti himself started taking precautions when a liberal group put out a public list recently labeling Republicans and conservatives “extremist,” Soti said.

“I do look around a little bit; I do keep my eyes open,” he said.

The Israel-Hamas war has also inspired political attacks in the Granite State. Anti-Israel protesters have conducted two separate actions at the Elbit Systems facility in Merrimack. In both cases, some participants were arrested and now face charges of vandalism, damaging property, and other alleged crimes.

The progressive activists accused New Hampshire of bigotry in prosecuting those cases and pledged the protests would continue.

“Elbit and New Hampshire’s racist politicians thought they’d scare people with the trumped up charges they brought against the 3 activists that targeted Elbit in NH last November,” they said in a social media post. “They were dead wrong. Our people will never stop shutting this genocidal company down.”

Concord Police are investigating Saturday’s events, though they declined to respond to NHJournal’s requests for comment about the ongoing investigation. Some GOP delegates didn’t notice the damage until after they left the convention. Republican Party leaders are still reaching out, encouraging victims to contact the police.

Jeff Oligny, a former state representative who was a delegate on Saturday, said the party convention is all about volunteers giving their time. Delegates showed up to make changes to the GOP platform in order to do as much good for people in the state as possible, he said.

“It’s really kind of sad that someone would do that to people who are volunteering for the state,” Oligny said.

Lothrop said there are numerous security cameras near the high school, making her optimistic police will find whoever is behind the criminal act. She’s looking forward to her day in court with the suspect.

“I sure as hell hope they caught the person on video,” Lothrop said.

The New Hampshire GOP actively encourages anyone with information to contact the Concord Police Department at (603) 225-8600 and says, on X/Twitter, that they “look forward to bringing the perpetrator(s) to justice.”

Prosecutors say the UNH staffer charged with threatening to “blow [GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s] brains out” also sent violent text messages to two other Republicans in the race. Now, he is facing three federal counts and up to 15 years in prison.

Tyler Anderson, 30, is charged with three counts of transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure the person of another for the messages to Ramaswamy and the two others.

Federal agents arrested Anderson on Dec. 9 after he allegedly sent grisly texts to Ramaswamy’s campaign. According to court records, Ramaswamy’s campaign team sent text invitations to a list of potential voters on the Seacoast on Dec. 8, ahead of a “Breakfast with Vivek” event slated for Dec. 11. 

Anderson got an invitation and allegedly responded with gruesome and obscene threats, according to investigators.

“‘Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!’ Anderson reportedly replied. He followed up with, ‘I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f*** their corpses.’”

When he was arrested at his Dover apartment the next day, investigators found threatening texts targeting two other presidential candidates on his cell phone, according to court records.

The charging documents allege Anderson sent a series of threatening text messages to three separate presidential campaigns going back to November. In one, Anderson threatened to “impale” and “disembowel” a candidate. In another, Anderson threatened to blow the head off a different candidate and conduct a “mass shooting.” 

Each charge carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Anderson is currently free on personal recognizance bail with the condition that he remains employed and continues receiving mental health care treatment. His roommate is also required to remove his guns from their shared apartment.

A 2018 UNH graduate, Anderson recently started a new job as an administrative assistant at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. UNH administrative assistants typically earn between $35,000 and $45,000 a year.

UNH did not respond to NHJournal’s request for comment on Thursday.

Brought into court by federal agents and wearing the Strafford County House of Corrections’ inmate uniform, Tyler Anderson managed to stay quiet for Monday’s short hearing.

If he had mastered that same self-control before he allegedly started threatening GOP politicians, Anderson might not have been in court at all.

Anderson, 30, threatened to kill Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy at a campaign event planned for Monday morning, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young said in a statement. And days before that threat, Anderson allegedly threatened a mass shooting at a different Republican presidential candidate’s events and made threats to multiple other candidates, according to court records.

“I’m very grateful to local law enforcement here in New Hampshire, including a retired cop who has worked with our team, for their swift response,” Ramaswamy said when he sat down with NHJournal to record an episode of Diner Table Economics on Monday. “I continue to pray for everyone involved in this process.”

GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy records an episode of Diner Table Conversations at the Airport Diner in Manchester.

Anderson, a Dover resident, is charged with allegedly sending two disturbing and threatening messages to Ramaswamy’s campaign. The threats came after Anderson received a text invitation to the “Breakfast with Vivek” campaign event in Portsmouth. 

Like many political candidates, Ramaswamy and his campaign use text messages to invite voters to campaign events. Anderson allegedly responded to one invitation with grisly and obscene threats.

“Great, another opportunity for me to blow his brains out!” Anderson reportedly replied. He followed up with, ‘I’m going to kill everyone who attends and then f*** their corpses.’”

Federal agents tracked Anderson to his Dover home on Saturday, placed him under arrest, and executed a search warrant. During the search, agents checked Anderson’s phone and found text threats to another GOP candidate, according to the affidavit filed in court. Again, Anderson allegedly sent the threats in response to a campaign text inviting him to an event.

“Fantastic, now I know where to go so I can blow that bastard’s head off.” “Thanks, I’ll see you there. Hope you have the stamina for a mass shooting!” “And then I’m gonna f*** (names) corpse.” “And don’t worry, (name), I’ll make sure to f*** yours too.”

When confronted with the text messages to one candidate’s team, Anderson told agents he sent more threats to many other candidates, according to the affidavit.

Anderson, 30, is a 2018 UNH graduate who recently started a new job as an administrative assistant at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture. UNH administrative assistants typically earn between $35,000 and $45,000 a year.

The University did not respond to NHJournal’s request for comment on Monday, but it is a safe bet Anderson won’t be at work for a while.

The government plans to ask that Anderson remain jailed pending a trial. Anderson will stay in custody until at least Thursday’s detention hearing.

Anderson faces a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

Ramaswamy told NHJournal that while the threats were disturbing, his experience campaigning for president has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I think we’re far more united in our basic values than most Americans would believe from turning on social media or looking at the cable news media,” Ramaswamy said. “Eighty percent of us in this country share the same values in common. Meeting people in the [Portsmouth] diner this morning, we had a lot of warm conversations and made new friendships that I’m incredibly grateful for. And I think that’s a good thing in this country.”

The New Hampshire woman who threatened a Republican Michigan election official and her daughter over the 2020 election has delayed her plea bargain, again.

Katelyn Jones, 23, was arrested by FBI agents at her mother’s Epping home in December 2021 after she allegedly made threats against Monica Palmer, chairwoman of the Wayne County Michigan Board of Canvassers, and her daughter.

“Hmm, It’d be a shame if something happened to your daughter at school,” Jones allegedly wrote in one of many alarming messages posted to Palmer’s social media accounts. 

Now, Jones is negotiating a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. She was charged with making interstate criminal threats. Court records filed in the United States District Court in Easter Michigan show Jones was supposed to have a plea hearing this week but requested a delay until April based on COVID-19 related setbacks.

Jones was reportedly angry that Palmer voted against certifying the election results that showed President Joe Biden won the election, in effect supporting a possible challenge by President Donald Trump. Jones, an adamant Trump opponent, responded by sending Palmer violent threats, including bloody photographs of nude women along with threats directed at Palmer’s daughter.

“F***ing with our election is TERRORISM, and us Americans clearly don’t tolerate terrorists so yes you should be afraid, your daughter should be afraid, and so should (name of Palmer’s husband,)” Jones allegedly wrote in one of the messages.

Jones is a former Michigan resident but was living at her mother’s New Hampshire home when she made the threats, according to court records.

Palmer voted against certifying the election in heavily African American Wayne County, Michigan. Her actions were seen as part of Trump’s doomed efforts to change the election result that saw him lose the presidency. Despite Palmer’s vote, Michigan eventually certified its election showing that Biden won the state. 

“Racist Terrorist B*tch,” Jones allegedly wrote in one message.

Jones allegedly sent Palmer a photo of a nude, mutilated, dead woman and wrote, “I’d just like you to imagine that’s … your beautiful daughter.”

When confronted at her mother’s house in Epping, Jones reportedly acknowledged to FBI agents that she had sent the messages. Jones said she made the threats and called Palmer a terrorist and a racist, according to court records.

Jones is currently free pending trial on a $10,000 bond. 

Violent political threats are becoming part of the political landscape. Last month, former Allenstown Middle School instructor Daniel Rattigan pleaded guilty to charges he threatened to mutilate state Rep. Keith Ammon (R-New Boston) and sexually assault one of his family members in response to the Republican lawmaker’s support for anti-CRT legislation.

Rattigan called Ammon a racist in the messages and he made numerous obscene and graphic threats against Ammon and a family member.

“I truly hope you get skull f***ed to death you pathetic privileged white [expletive] boi,” Rattigan wrote in one of the messages.

Also in December, Amherst resident Ryder Winegar, 33, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for calling members of Congress and threatening to rape and murder them if they did not support President Donald Trump after the 2020 election.

One message Winegar left, edited to remove extreme profanities, is a typical example:

“Here’s the advice, Donald Trump is your president. If you don’t get behind him, we’re going to hang you until you die … You can come, you can keep being a shill for the Chinese Communist Party. And you know, like the, uh, the Jewish banking cartel, or you can stand up and do the right thing and back America’s president Donald Trump. Support freedom.”

Former Allenstown Middle School instructor Daniel Rattigan has pleaded guilty to charges he threatened to mutilate state Rep. Keith Ammon (R-New Boston) and sexually assault one of his family members in response to the Republican lawmaker’s support for anti-CRT legislation.

“I’ve gotten crazy emails, but nothing like this one. It was unhinged,” Ammon said.

Rattigan, 31, pleaded guilty in Goffstown District Court on Friday to two misdemeanor counts — one for harassment and one for obstructing government administration. Two other identical charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Rattigan will not do jail time, but instead has $1,240 in fines which are suspended for one year so long as he remains on good behavior. Rattigan is not to have any contact with Ammon, other than writing an apology letter.

“I doubt it will be sincere,” Ammon said.

Rattigan was reportedly upset with Ammon’s efforts to prevent schools from teaching Critical Race Theory-based content in New Hampshire classrooms. Ammon was one of the original sponsors of HB 544, which “prohibits the dissemination of certain divisive concepts related to sex and race in state contracts, grants, and training programs.” That legislation was set aside for an anti-discrimination law passed as part of the 2021 budget.

Rattigan called Ammon a racist in the messages and he made numerous obscene and graphic threats against Ammon and a family member.

“I truly hope you get skull f***ed to death you pathetic privileged white [expletive] boi,” Rattigan wrote in one of the messages.

Rattigan sent the violent and obscene threats to Ammon via Facebook in late February, as the politics around the anti-CRT law were getting heated. Ammons said he and his family spent subsequent months worried for their safety. 

“We were making sure the house was safe and making sure there are no unexpected visitors, as you can imagine,” Ammon said.

The threats started coming in on the night of Feb. 25, and included numerous misspellings and punctuation mistakes. Ammon assumed Rattigan might have been intoxicated and would think better the next day and apologize. Instead, according to Ammon, Rattigan continued to display angry and unhinged behavior.

Ammon went to law enforcement the next day and reported the issue, first to the Protective Services of the General Court, the branch of the New Hampshire State Police that protects state representatives, and then to the New Boston Police Department. 

Rattigan lists his employment on LinkedIn as being an Educational Assistant at the Armand R. Dupont Middle School in Allenstown. The profile claims he has worked at the school since 2013. 

On Monday, Allenstown Superintendent Peter Warburton said Rattigan worked at the middle school for a month and a half in 2013 and has not been employed by the district since.

Contacted by NHJournal through his Facebook account, Rattigan asked that no story be written because he feared losing his job. He would not reveal where he works, but he minimized the repeated and escalating threats he made against Ammon and his family. 

“It was a rude empty comment that I apologized for,” Rattigan said in a message.

Rattigan’s language was extremely crude, but his claims that supporters of the anti-discrimination bill are racists echoes language used by Democratic leaders in the legislature and progressive activists. It’s an interesting claim given the law literally bans government-funded instructors from teaching that one race, sex, or group is inherently superior or inferior to another.

State Rep. Linda Harriot-Gathright (D-Nashua) opposes the anti-discrimination law because, she says, New Hampshire’s public schools are racist.

“This language robs young people of an inclusive and realistic education by targeting efforts to talk about systemic racism in schools,” she said when the law was passed. “We need to be looking at how our systems promote racial inequity and working towards solutions. Systematic racism is still alive and well.”

Schools in the Granite State got a concerning message Wednesday from the Department of Safety’s Information and Analysis Center about possible threats in schools set for this Friday.

The bulletin from the NHIAC states there is a rich of online messaging about possible school threats on Dec. 17. The nature of the threats at this time is not considered credible, and the online messaging appears to be a national issue, and not specific to New Hampshire.

“The New Hampshire Department of Education has been made aware of online messaging that was brought to the attention of the NH Information and Analysis Center, calling for possible school threats on Dec. 17, 2021,” said Kimberly Houghton, the communications administrator for the Department of Education. “NHIAC is not aware of any credible threat pertaining to any specific schools or locations, and is urging everyone to please report found threats to local police departments.”

The bulletin prompted many schools in New Hampshire to alert parents to the issue on Wednesday. 

“Although there are no known threats to any specific schools or locations, it is important that we share this information to increase awareness with our staff, our families and our communities,” one district states in an email alert. 

Parents and students are being asked to check social media for anything concerning that should be shared with law enforcement. Any potential threats should be reported to police immediately by calling 9-1-1, according to the alerts. It is not known if any New Hampshire schools are closing on Friday as a result of the threats. 

New Hampshire has not experienced a school shooting. 

The bulletin from the NHIAC comes a day after the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting in which a gunman entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and murdered 20 children and seven teachers and staffers before killing himself.

Booze and heavy doses of right-wing misinformation pushed Navy veteran Ryder Winegar to call members of Congress last year, threatening to rape and murder them if they did not support President Donald Trump.

He’s now going to prison.

Winegar’s attorney, Charles Keefe, told the court this week his client regrets his actions and now rejects the ideology that led him to prison.

“After months of becoming caught up in ultra-conservative news-outlet information, and allowing himself to be indoctrinated with a dogma spewed by the former president and his followers, Ryder’s depression and anxiety found an outlet,” Keefe wrote. “Fueled by his intoxication, Ryder proceeded to leave a series of disgusting, racist, and threatening voicemails for six members of Congress regarding the results of the 2020 presidential election.”

Keefe asked the court to give the 35-year-old a sentence of time served. He’s been jailed since his arrest last year. John Farley, the acting United States Attorney for New Hampshire, wanted the 33-months in prison Winegar got, saying his threats were part of former President Donald Trump’s overall movement to upend the 2020 election.

“Add it all up, this is serious conduct that was intended to disrupt the functioning of government at the highest levels and warrants the imposition of a sentence that reflects the gravity of the offenses,” Farley wrote.

On the night of Dec. 15, Winegar downed a six-pack of beer, two bottles of sake, and a few tumblers of tequila before he called six members of Congress and threatened to kill them if they did not support Trump’s efforts to stay in office after his loss to President Joe Biden. 

The members of Congress are not identified in the court records. Winegar made calls to offices in D.C. after midnight, and left voicemail messages for the Congress members. He also left his name and phone number on many of the messages.

One of the messages Winegar, edited to remove extreme profanities, is a typical example:

“Here’s the advice, Donald Trump is your president. If you don’t get behind him, we’re going to hang you until you die … You can come, you can keep being a shill for the Chinese communist party. And you know, like the, uh, the Jewish banking cartel, or you can stand up and do the right thing and back America’s president Donald Trump. Support freedom.”

Days before he called and left the threats, Winegar also emailed threats to a New Hampshire state representative, according to court records.

When Capitol police investigators went to Winegar’s home in Amherst to talk about the phone calls, Winegar reportedly told them to get off his property. The next day his wife drove him to Boston’s Logan Airport where he boarded a flight to Brazil, according to court records. He stayed out of the country until he was convinced to come home, at which point he was arrested at the airport.

Investigators searched his home and found an AR-15 rifle loaded with light armor-piercing ammunition, a loaded shotgun, a loaded 9mm pistol, an unloaded rifle with a scope, several hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a body armor vest, with clips and Level IV body armor plates.

Winegar pleaded guilty to all charges in August. Keefe wrote that Winegar’s 10 months in jail is the longest stretch of time he’s been sober since he was 12. Alcohol and marijuana use played a key role in his crimes, as does childhood trauma, Keefe wrote.

“As well, his actions derived from an alcohol-fueled form of political hysteria that he now renounces. It is very likely that Ryder’s actions in this case, and the mindset that allowed him to commit these offenses, is connected to the instability and unusual influences of his childhood,” Keefe wrote.

Winegar grew up in the Church of Scientology, which was founded by pulp writer L. Ron Hubbard. It teaches belief in alien lifeforms that inhabit the human body and are the cause of all emotional problems, as well as belief in past lives, and a sci-fi infused history of the earth. Scientology also prohibits followers from seeking mental health treatments.

“The Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgements as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business,” Keefe wrote.

 Winegar found structure in the Navy, and excelled at learning languages, according to Keefe. He was honorably discharged but had trouble adapting back to civilian life. He stopped taking medications like Zoloft, and started heavy use of alcohol and marijuana leading up to the 2020 presidential election, according to Keefe. As part of the sentence, Winegar will pay a $15,000 fine.

“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that threats of violence have no place in our political discourse,” Farley said in a statement. “While all citizens are free to express their political opinions, it is unlawful to threaten to commit acts of violence against members of Congress or members of the state legislature.  This defendant’s graphic threats were a troubling attempt to intimidate lawmakers and a direct assault on the functioning of our constitutional system.  This sentence should send a message to the community that those who threaten to commit acts of violence against duly-elected legislators will be held accountable for their unlawful conduct.”