After initially being denied bail by a lower court, Daniel Zeron, 19, will be released on personal recognizance pending trial after a Superior Court judge heard his appeal.
Zeron was arrested last Monday and charged with criminal threatening for allegedly posting a message on Facebook encouraging people to riot in Manchester.
Manchester Police Department, which investigated and arrested Zeron, called for him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible. District Court Judge William Lyons considered Zeron’s alleged post so incendiary he denied bail, writing that his “conduct created a high risk of danger to public safety.”
Superior Court Judge William Delker, however, is reversing that decision on appeal. After hearing from prosecutors, as well as Zeron and his parents, Delker is releasing the defendant to his family. Zeron is ordered to not use the internet or possess a smartphone.
“The defendant’s effort to incite similar lawless violence in New Hampshire cannot be taken lightly. The Due Process Clause, however, does not allow preventative pretrial detention to be used to punish past criminal conduct,” wrote Delker in his order. “The State presented little evidence that the defendant would engage in this, or other similarly dangerous conduct, if released on bail.”
Zeron allegedly posted on May 30 that rioters should gather on South Willow Street on June 2 and “take examples from riots in other cities.”
“Police cars will be tipped. Graffiti is welcome,” read the post, which was deleted within 24 hours after law enforcement notified Facebook.
On the evening of June 2, a dozen people were arrested after a confrontation with police on South Willow Street, though it isn’t clear if those events were tied to Zeron’s post, which wasn’t shared widely on the internet.
If convicted of criminal threatening, he faces up to 12 months in jail.
