Statehouse Officials Report 'Threat' Made During Gun Rally

It was a case of better to be safe than be sorry at the Statehouse on April 13, as state officials sent out an alert to elected officials and legislative staffers that there could be a potential threat at the Statehouse at the same time the Honor Your Oath rally was going on. 

Jay Flanders, the senate’s chief of staff, sent an email out at a little past 3 p.m. saying that police had “received a threat relative to possible violence at or near the NH State House.” He said that everyone was being requested to “not to enter” the building while police evaluated the threat and took any necessary actions.

The rally started at 1 p.m. and continued to just past 4 p.m., according to attendees. 

A few hours after the initial email, at around 6 p.m., Flanders sent out a second email to representatives and staffers stating that police had determined there was “no current risk from the threat they received earlier today” and thanked everyone for their patience in the matter.

The New Hampshire State Police reported no problems at the Statehouse, at the rally, or the gun show at the Everett Arena that was also happening at the same time.

Lt. Nicole Armaganian, the public information officer for the state police, was out of town but responded by email that she looked into the report of a threat and said everything “went off fine today; no incidents.”

Susan Olsen of the Smart Girl Politics NH group who assisted with the rally said while the event did run a bit long, there were no problems. Others who were at the rally also confirmed that there weren’t any problems.

It is unknown at post time the nature of the exact threat. 

Patch will update this story when more information is available. Highlights from the Honor Your Oath rally will be posted on Sunday morning.