As state and local law enforcement investigate the conduct of a neo-Nazi group that clashed with pedestrians in Concord Saturday, video shared with NHPR sheds new light on the extent to which police — both state and local — were present as members of Blood Tribe interacted with counter protestors, before piling into the back of U-Haul truck and driving away.
The video, shot by Concord resident Ed Ramshaw, shows members of roughly a dozen members of Blood Tribe chanting white supremacist slogans and performing Nazi salutes as counter protestors yelled profanities and heckled them. The neo-Nazi group members wore identical red and black uniforms with their heads and faces completely covered by masks.
At times, the video shows officers with the New Hampshire State Police and the Concord Police Department engaging with Blood Tribe members and counter protestors. But mostly, they show the police acting as a buffer between the two groups, including grabbing a counter protestor who appeared to be trying to open the rear door of the U-Haul moving truck as it drove off.
The roughly 10 minutes captured in these and other videos show the end of Blood Tribe’s movement through Concord’s downtown midday Saturday, from the State House to South Main Street. Along the way, members of the group marched down the sidewalk, waving swastika flags, yelling anti-LGTBQ+ comments, and scuffling with passersby.
Blood Tribe was founded in Texas in 2021 by a former Marine turned tattoo artist, Christopher Pohlhaus. Since then, the group has staged marches and protests in multiple states. Pohlhaus, who lived in Maine from 2022 until last year, was among the Blood Tribe members who lined up in front of the State House steps Saturday, as some held Nazi flags and a banner that read “Trump Loves Epstein.”
Blood Tribe’s arrival at the State House Saturday came as members of the progressive group NH50501 were readying a protest of their own as part of a nationwide “Rage Against The Regime” day of action.
According to people who study white nationalist groups, Blood Tribe’s appearance in Concord was intended to play out on social media as much as in person. That includes timing their visit to coincide with another protest and documenting their actions with a tripod-mounted smartphone, said Jeff Tischauser, a researcher with the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“These so-called flash rallies are primarily designed to recruit people online,” said Tischauser. “They are able to create propaganda videos that they are then able to spread to already radicalized young men on platforms like Telegram and Gab and X.”
Tischauser says these rallies can pose challenges for law enforcement who have to balance free speech rights, civil rights and public safety. But he points out that in some jurisdictions, police have taken action by targeting hate groups’ use of box trucks, which generally aren’t permitted to be used to transport large numbers of passengers.
He pointed to the law enforcement response to the hate group “Patriot Front" in Philadelphia in 2023.
“Police were there quickly, and as soon as Patriot Front got back in their box truck, police pulled them over and one by one they ran the individuals’ names and made sure they didn’t have any warrants,” Tischauser said. “Patriot Front hasn’t gone back to Philadelphia."
A spokesman for the New Hampshire Department of Justice said that office was “closely monitoring” the investigation into Saturday’s actions in Concord.
“Our Civil Rights Unit stands ready to assist should Concord investigators request support,” spokesman Michael Garrity said in an email to NHPR.
The Concord Police Department did not respond to messages Monday.
Elected officials — including Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Concord Mayor Byron Champlin — have denounced Blood Tribe’s presence in the capital.
