Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 14

NHPR Apologizes for Sponsoring Book Fair Backing 9 Defendants in Texas Anti-ICE Attack

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 14

NHPR Apologizes for Sponsoring Book Fair Backing 9 Defendants in Texas Anti-ICE Attack

Q: How did a trusted public radio station accidentally sponsor an event backing individuals convicted of a violent attack?

NHPR appears to have sponsored the event because of an internal approval failure, not an editorial decision to endorse its politics. The station’s president, Jim Schachter, said no newsroom staff knew about or took part in the sponsorship, and that the decision conflicted with NHPR’s ethics policy barring involvement in activities that could be seen as political. The event itself was not a neutral literary fair. It was the New Hampshire Anarchist Book Fair, organized by the Live Free Autonomy Collective, and its public promotion included the message “Solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants” and the slogan “zines are not a crime.” Those references tied the fair to people prosecuted over the July 4, 2025 incident at the Prairieland ICE detention center in Texas, where an officer was shot during a chaotic protest that federal authorities described as a violent attack. What seems to have happened is that NHPR’s sponsorship process did not adequately vet the host group, the event branding, or the political messaging attached to it. Schachter has not publicly identified who approved the sponsorship, but he said the station is reviewing its internal procedures to prevent a repeat. So the best-supported answer is that a trusted public radio station did not “accidentally” back the defendants in substance; it accidentally attached its name to an event without sufficient review of the event’s advocacy content, creating the appearance of support and forcing a public apology.

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 14

New Hampshire Public Radio said it “erred” by sponsoring and staffing a table at a Hanover anarchist book fair, calling the decision a breach of its ethics rules against political involvement.
Promotional material for the event declared “Solidarity with the Prairieland Defendants,” linking it to a July 4, 2025 attack on the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.
Federal prosecutors said attackers used fireworks and graffiti to lure officers outside before gunmen opened fire; an Alvarado police officer was shot in the neck.
Nine defendants were later convicted on federal charges, seven others pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists, and NHPR said it is reviewing internal processes to prevent a repeat.