Police: Trooper 'Fist Bump' Photo Inference 'Factually Incorrect'

CONCORD, NH — The commanders of the New Hampshire State Police and Concord Police Department are challenging the political perception of a photo taken by an attendee of the anti-racism rally in Concord Saturday of a state trooper accepting a fist bump from a counter-protester — after the trooper was attacked on Twitter by a number of activists including a Democrat state representative.

As first reported on Concord NH Patch, after the march for Black Lives Matter and at the beginning of a rally to mourn George Floyd, the Minnesota man who died after being pinned to the ground by a Minneapolis police officer, a state trooper and Concord police officer stepped in between marchers and counter-protesters at the Statehouse plaza, who were yelling and screaming at each other (see video inside this Patch story).

The Black Lives Matters supporters were telling the counter-protesters, about 10, to leave the plaza. The counter-protesters, a few possessing long-arm rifles, one holding a Donald Trump flag, and another holding a Blue Lives Matter sign, refused to leave with one saying, All lives matter. Event organizers also worked to keep the parties separated.

Not long after the verbal skirmish, one of the counter-protesters offered the state trooper a fist bump and he accepted. The moment was caught on camera by Jody Armstrong at the rally (and viewed by me).

Armstrong's picture was shared on Twitter by state Rep. Sherry Frost, D-Dover, who is known to make incendiary and colorful comments online, and who didn’t attend the rally, but insinuated the trooper was a supporter of the counter-protesters — or worse.

"A NH state trooper fist-bumps an armed Trump-supporting anti-protestor behind the back of a black Concord City Officer at the Concord Black Lives Matter march," Frost wrote. "Any questions?"

Blogger Susan the Bruce, who lives in Maine now, and others, also shared the photo and made comments about it even though they didn't attend the rally.

Frost's post received 274 retweets and 273 "likes" as well as a number of comments calling for the defunding of police, insinuating the state trooper was a "young Nazi 'Storm' 'State' SS Trooper," and another saying, "Name him, shame him." One woman wrote, "Disgusting." Frost replied, "but not at all surprising." Some also challenged Frost's assertions saying police were hugging protesters all over the place and it was not a big deal.

Frost, however, in a second tweet, requested state police respond to the photo: "Dear @NH_StatePolice, can you address this publicly, please? Does the NHSP not offer sufficient training for your officers to understand the implications of this gesture in this setting?"

On Sunday, after seeing the tweets, Patch shared its story on Twitter and explained what happened — the trooper and the officer deescalated a situation, the trooper was thanked, and accepted the fist bump. Instead of accepting the first-hand witness statement, part of which was recorded on video, Frost wrote, "So much white supremacy apologia here, it's hard to know where to even begin."

The state trooper is accepting a fist bump from the counter-protester after deescalating an incident between BLM protesters screaming at the counter-protesters to leave and them yelling back that they weren't leaving: https://t.co/T4JwFWMY3c #nhpolitics https://t.co/LQOPcSrN5v
— NH Patch Politics (@NHPatchPolitics) June 7, 2020

Nancy West of InDepthNH.org also published a quick post Saturday about Frost's tweet and requested comment from Gov. Chris Sununu, the New Hampshire State Police, and Frost, to no avail.

On Monday, New Hampshire State Police Col. Nathan Noyes and Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood issued a joint statement saying the portrayal of the photo by some as support for a political viewpoint was factually incorrect.

"A crucial part of our training is to de-escalate situations before they become contentious," they wrote. "The Concord police and the New Hampshire State Police were conducting patrols on Saturday and were called to address a verbal altercation. The Concord officer and the state trooper, who were partnered together for the entirety of the event to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved, spoke with individuals on both sides of the dispute. The situation was de-escalated. One person extended his hand to the Concord police officer and, in return, the officer shook his hand. Another individual extended his hand to the state trooper but because of concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19, the trooper extended a 'fist bump' instead of a handshake."

Both departments, they wrote, prided themselves on "contributing to the sense of calm during events through constant professionalism and poise" and the goal was to "have these events remain peaceful in order for the message of all individuals to be heard — and to de-escalate any tense situations that may arise."

The departments "treat everyone equally, fairly and impartially through respect, and we protect everyone’s right to express their beliefs and viewpoints peacefully."

West, in a follow-up story, received an email from Frost stating that the explanation by police was "plausible" even though she attacked Patch on Twitter for pointing this out to her 24 hours before. She also called it "encouraging" that state police took the steps to issue a statement and clarify that they did not support the political agenda "being pushed by the armed agitators."

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