In a State of Free Thinkers, N.H. Lawmaker Goes Too Far

The state motto may be “Live Free or Die,” but even New Hampshire has its limits.

Many residents and lawmakers are outraged over a state legislator who has written that he “loves it when someone kills a police officer,” condemns any kind of drinking age and says requiring children to go to school violates their constitutional right to liberty.

Freshman state Rep. Tom Alciere, a Republican, did not widely publicize his anti-authority opinions when he campaigned last fall for a legislative seat from Nashua. But Internet postings in which Alciere, 41, described police as “enemy officers”--among other controversial viewpoints--surfaced around the first of the year, causing consternation among constituents and in the country’s largest elected legislative body.

After insisting that his right to free speech permits him to say whatever he wants, Alciere on Monday offered to resign if certain conditions are met. In the meantime, a state where free thinking is a contact sport was left reeling from his stated points of view.

“There is nothing wrong with slaughtering a cop. Just throw the carcass into the Dumpster with the rest of the garbage,” Alciere wrote in one Internet posting.

In another posting, Alciere berated police officers as “nothing but a bunch of vicious, brutal, crooked, racist, obnoxious, perjuring, bullying thugs.” The new lawmaker also has written that the FBI was involved in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Alciere, who has stopped answering the phone at his Nashua home, also advocates legalizing all drugs. He opposes involuntary commitment to mental institutions and has proposed replacing public schools with online learning.

He runs a small business out of his house that imports brides from the Dominican Republic, the native country of his wife, Bianca.

The November election marked Alciere’s fourth attempt to win office. While campaigning, he toned down what he has described as his “unorthodox” rhetoric. His local newspaper, the Nashua Telegraph, knew him as a frequent letters-to-the-editor writer. In an election that saw New Hampshire vote heavily Republican, Alciere defeated his Democratic opponent by 55 votes.

His on-line commentary was disclosed after the election by a small New Hampshire newspaper, the Valley News. In one postelection squib, Alciere gloated about his victory and berated his new constituents as dupes who fell for his Republican packaging.

That commentary so incensed many of his constituents that residents held a meeting in Nashua last week to publicly apologize for voting him in.

Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, issued a statement saying she supports Alciere’s free speech rights. But Shaheen said Alciere’s trumpeting of opinions that are “totally unacceptable for a civilized society” makes him unsuitable for public service.

The National Assn. of Police Organizations, in a letter made public this week, called Alciere’s statements “disgusting and reprehensible.”

In the 400-member state Legislature, some of Alciere’s new colleagues threatened ostracism if he does not step down.

At the Concord Statehouse on Monday, Alciere said he will step aside if 11 other representatives agree to champion legislation encompassing his views all the way to a roll-call vote on the Statehouse floor.

Burling, the New Hampshire state minority leader, decried that demand. “That ain’t happening.”

Alciere, meanwhile, reserved his right to run again if a special election is called to find his replacement.

And, he said, some good has come out of the airing of his virulent views on police officers, among other subjects.

Now, he said, “you will have some kind of gauge of dissatisfaction with the police. Something of value will come out of it.”