Charges have been dropped against a New Hampshire man who had been charged with destruction of property after an LGBTQ newspaper box was blown up in Salem last year.
Lawrence Gilman, 20, was scheduled for a bench trial on Tuesday. But prosecutors said there was no evidence that he was involved in the destruction of the newspaper box but was “simply present.”
Police had said Gilman and John Richard, 23 of Hollis, NH, bought fireworks in New Hampshire and put it inside a newspaper box for the Rainbow Times, which is the largest LGBTQ newspaper in New England.
Security footage lager showed suspects running away as the newspaper box exploded.
The incident was originally investigated as a hate crime. Police had said at the time that the suspects admitted to blowing up the newspaper box but denied that the vandalism was motivated by hate.
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