TROY (AP) — Officials in a New Hampshire town have closed the Town Hall and are taking appointments only following threats they received after their police chief attended last week’s rally for President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol.
The doors “will be locked for the time being,” according to the message on the website and Facebook site of Troy, a town of about 2,100 people in southwest New Hampshire.
Dick Thackston, chairman of the Troy Select board, has defended Police Chief David Ellis, who says he left the protest before it turned violent.
Thackston told New Hampshire Public Radio that since then, people from outside of the region have been calling the town officials with profanities and threats of violence against the select board, which stands by Ellis.
“There have been a large number of emails and voicemail threats sent directly to the selectmen’s office,” he said.
A message seeking comment from Ellis was left Monday.
In an interview last week with the Intelligencer, a web publication run by New York Magazine, Ellis, 60, said the violence “was not going to solve a thing, and then to see the police get treated the way they were treated, it’s ridiculous.”
He added, “There’s a lot of Trump supporters that are awesome people,” he said. “Like me.”
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.