Assaulting Concord State Rep. Escapes Legislative Inquiry

CONCORD, NH — A Concord Democrat, state representative, and former county attorney will not have to undergo a legislative inquiry to determine whether she is fit to serve after admitting to assault on a political opponent in 2016. State Rep. Katherine Rogers pleaded guilty to an assault charge in Concord District Court on Dec. 22, 2017, of assaulting Susan Olsen, a 2nd Amendment advocate, during a state Senate seat recount at the state archives building on Nov. 16, 2016. Rogers’ plea was part of a deal to avoid both jail time and a fine. She must attend anger management classes before the end of February and stay out of trouble for the next year.

In the weeks since pleading guilty, hundreds of people signed a change.org petition calling on her to step down while the New Hampshire Republican State Committee also issued press releases twice calling on her to resign. So far, she's refused.

NH GOP Chairwoman Jeanie Forrester called Rogers’ behavior “unhinged.” She also stated she was surprised that Democrats were allowing her to “terrorize the House” since she posed “a physical threat to her colleagues.” Last week, during the House session, a number of Republican representatives sported “No Hitting” pins but this week, were reportedly requested to remove them. GOP leadership – including Speaker Gene Chandler, R-Bartlett, and Gov. Chris Sununu, R-NH – refused to comment on the matter despite regularly being attacked by Democrats for not acting against others – even claiming Republicans were promoting “rape culture” at the Statehouse.

With Rogers not resigning, a request was made on Jan. 9, 2018, by state Rep. Brian Stone, R-Northwood, to have Legislative Administration Committee – the same board last year that analyzed unbecoming comments by two legislators in 2017 – to hold an inquiry into Rogers’ assault charge. Stone noted that he had been waiting for Rogers’ supporters to call on her to resign and was surprised when it didn’t happen – since so many were in court to offer their support. No amount of previous good acts, he noted, could be used to excuse her behavior.

“Some in this body have screamed bloody murder when (Republicans) have been accused of certain actions,” he said. “Yet those same people remain silent. An outright assault cannot be committed to pass without comment.”

State Rep. Sherry Frost, D-Dover – who was one of the representatives called before the committee last year for profanity laced Tweets as well as suggesting that her male colleagues were making her “homicidal,” a perceived threat of violence by some in the body – rose for a parliamentary inquiry wondering if the proposal could be amended to include a representative currently accused of sexual assault against a teenager – state Rep. Eric Schleien, R-Hudson – who she didn’t actually name. Chandler said that would be allowed but Frost said she wasn’t going to make a proposal and was just asking.

State Rep. Timothy Horrigan, D-Durham, who was at the court hearing, noted that he was not there in an official capacity but as a friend. He defended Rogers as “not just one of the finest people I know but one of the gentlest people I know and certainly violence is totally out of her character.” Horrigan added that there were other members of the House who didn’t have perfectly clean records and Rogers was serving her sentence and admitted her mistake.

Minority Leader state Rep. Steve Shurtleff, D-Penacook, called what Rogers did “indefensible” but said that the previous hearing last year – involving Frost and former state Rep. Robert Fisher, R-Laconia, who created a “men’s rights” Reddit site in 2008, when he was a Democrat that made disparaging comments about women – turned into a circus.

“I don’t want to see that happen again,” he stated.

Shurtleff noted that representatives would soon take up proposals to consider changes for the committee, including a streamlined process. The board, he noted, could make three recommendations – reprimand, censure, or expelled. Shurtleff added that Democrats, however, have never proposed an inquiry for the opposition like Stone was proposing – even after Republican House members had been found guilty of drunk driving and other charges.

“I don’t want to see us go down that slippery slope of every time a member of the other party does something, that the party opposite gets up and says, ‘Let’s send it to Leg. Administration.’”

Shurtleff added that if the Rockingham County Rep. accused of assault was found guilty or pleaded guilty, he would not want to request Legislative Administration to look into the verdict.

“That’s not why the people of New Hampshire sent us here,” he added. “We’re not Washington, DC … we’re Concord, NH … please don’t send us down that slippery slope of gotcha.”

A roll call vote was requested but rejected so the body took a division vote – meaning, an electronic vote without tracking how people voted – and the count was 99-222 against the motion.

Rogers image via Tony Schinella, Patch staff; submitted button photo.