Tote Bags For Terrorism? NHPR Apologizes For Sponsoring Pro-Antifa Political Event

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

An anarchist book fair in Hanover that was held in solidarity with antifa terrorists who assaulted an immigration detention facility and shot a police officer was sponsored in part by New Hampshire Public Radio. After an independent online journalist reported the network’s involvement, NHPR issued an apology.

The Live Free Anarchist Book Fair on Saturday advertised the Northeast Anarchist Union, Socialist Rifle Association NH, and Workers Congress of New Hampshire among its participants. Its promotional website declared, “Solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants.”

The Prairieland defendants were prosecuted following the July 4, 2025, attack at an immigration detention facility in Alvarado, Texas. A responding police officer was shot in the neck and survived. The activists were convicted of carrying out their attack on the ICE facility as part of an “antifa” cell.

Benjamin Hanil Song was convicted of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and sentenced to 100 years in prison in June. Other defendants received sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years.

In addition to showing solidarity with antifa, the NHPR-sponsored event also advocated socialist politics, support for the Palestinian political cause, and Marxist revolutionary politics as well.

Independent journalist and online influencer Karlyn Borysenko, who spotlighted NHPR’s involvement on her social media feed, reported on the book fair. Among the materials being handed out were pro-antifa flyers. One participant was wearing a T-shirt with an image of a gun and the phrase “The means of production aren’t going to seize themselves.”

After Borysenko publicized the far-left politics NHPR was sponsoring at the event, the organization posted a statement on social media.

“NHPR erred in accepting an invitation to sponsor and host a table at the Anarchist Book Fair in Hanover on Saturday. Our code of ethics (NHPR.org/ethics) makes clear that we should not compromise the integrity of our journalism by involvement in anything that can be viewed as political.”

The organization, led by Jim Schachter, also claimed ignorance.

“No one from NHPR’s newsroom was aware of or involved in the decision to participate in this event,” the statement added.

“We remain committed to our mission of independent, trustworthy journalism for everyone in New Hampshire, and we are evaluating our internal processes to ensure mistakes like this don’t happen again.”

NHPR’s participation bolsters the longstanding critique that NHPR is a left-wing media outlet that lacks partisan balance. Adding to the perception of partisanship, one of the event’s organizers is state Rep. Alissandra Murray, a Manchester Democrat known for her progressive political activism.

Murray co-founded and co-leads the Live Free Autonomy Collective, which organized the book fair. Borysenko alleges Murray helped remove her from Saturday’s event and threatened her over publishing photographs or videos.

The fair announcement promoted “radical books” and “political education” and described the gathering as defiance against a government the organizers accused of banning books, criminalizing care and incarcerating their people.

Several advertised participants advocate revolutionary political change.

The Workers Congress of New Hampshire, identified online as the New Hampshire Congress of Workers’ Organizations, calls the liberal-capitalist republic “fundamentally illegitimate.” Its platform seeks an independent socialist political body to contest the existing republic and advocates collective ownership of economic institutions.

The Socialist Party of Southern New Hampshire identifies itself as a member of the congress.

Socialist Rifle Association NH was advertised as providing bleeding-control training. The national association promotes armed working-class self-defense and describes itself as a left-leaning alternative to right-wing gun culture.

NHPR’s ethics code says marketing and promotional activities must not jeopardize journalistic independence. It also prohibits covered employees from contributing support or money to political causes.

Sunday’s statement did not identify who approved the sponsorship, whether money changed hands or which NHPR employees were assigned to the table.

More notably, it did not explain how the station management could not identify in advance that an “anarchist book fair” hosted by a progressive organization co-founded by a Democratic state representative could be “viewed as political.”

NHPR currently has no center-right content on its regular broadcast schedule.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.