New Hampshire State Rep Says It's OK to 'Burn and Loot' Houses With Black Lives Matter Signs

A New Hampshire state representative is the latest white man to piss a bunch of people off because he couldn’t help but be his racist self.

The Concord Monitor reports that earlier this week, Rep. James Spillane told his followers on Facebook, “If you see a BLM sign on a lawn, it’s the same as having a porch light on at Halloween. You are free to burn and loot that house.” The New Hampshire Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Spillane as a result of the post.

As of Thursday, the post has been deleted from Spillane’s page. Sean Locke, Director of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Unit, has said that his office has received multiple complaints regarding Spillane’s post. Locke wrote a letter to state House Speaker Steve Shurtleff that said “members of the public who support the Black Lives Matter movement have expressed fear that they may become targets of violence as the result of Rep. Spillane’s post.”

Shurtleff said the Facebook post was an “incitement of violence that put the lives of Granite Staters in jeopardy,” and called for Spillane’s immediate resignation. Jordan Thompson, a founder of Black Lives Matter Nashua and local organizer for the ACLU of New Hampshire, also believes that Spillane should resign.

“Remarks like these indicate a total lack of decency and respect for Black lives,” Thompson said in a statement. “This is yet another example of what we mean when we say New Hampshire is not innocent. It is incumbent on all of us to be honest about the reality that white supremacy exists in the Granite State.”

Spillane, a Republican up for reelection this year, is serving his fourth term representing Candia, Deerfield, and Nottingham in the state House. He’s also the co-chair of the House Republican Alliance, a caucus within the legislature. He has yet to comment or apologize for his remarks.

This is not the first time that Spillane has garnered controversy. In 2010, he was convicted of DUI and reckless conduct and once more in 2018 for driving with an open container. Despite all this, he’s still managed to keep his job as a lawmaker.