1 killed in New Hampshire shooting where gunman reportedly yelled ‘Free Palestine’
Local officials said they believed the alleged gunman was trying to sow chaos
The New Hampshire flag is overlaid with a gun. Photo by Getty Images
Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.
(JTA) — A man who reportedly shouted “Free Palestine!” while opening fire killed one and injured two others at a New Hampshire country club on Saturday night.
Unlike in other recent attacks where assailants have used the phrase, there was no indication that the alleged gunman was motivated by a political ideology or outlook on the Middle East, officials said on Sunday.
Instead, they said, Hunter Nadeau, who had previously been employed at the Sky Meadow Country Club in Nashua, appeared to use the slogan and others to sow chaos during his attack, which came during a wedding at the club.
“At this point, the evidence leads us to believe it is more likely that Mr. Nadeau was simply trying to make a number of statements to create chaos in the moment,” the state’s attorney general, John Formella, told reporters on Sunday. He added, “At this point, we don’t have any evidence to indicate this was a hate-based act.”
The shooting comes amid high alert over political violence in the United States, already reeling from the assassination last week of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. In recent months, assailants who shouted “Free Palestine” killed two people in a shooting outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and killed one person and injured several others in a firebombing on a group marching in solidarity with Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado. The man alleged to have set fire to the residence of Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Jewish governor, in April, also said he was acting on behalf of the Palestinians.
Among those who connected the New Hampshire shooting to those incidents was Sen. John Fetterman, who tweeted on Sunday afternoon, “More political violence the day before Charlie Kirk’s funeral.” Shortly afterwards, local officials would tamp down the idea.
