Enforcement Actions Filed Against Christopher Rounds for Violations of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act

Concord, NH – Attorney General John M. Formella announces the initiation of an enforcement action by the Civil Rights Unit against Christopher Rounds, age 46, of Manchester, New Hampshire, alleging five violations of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act.

The civil complaint alleges that on June 9, 2023, Mr. Rounds confronted the property manager at an apartment building at which he had been residing after the property manager left a note on his truck that asked him to move his vehicle. Mr. Rounds threatened the property manager and shouted racial and misogynistic slurs at her. The property manager retreated to her car and Mr. Rounds followed and banged on her car while shouting more threats and slurs. Mr. Rounds then left the area.

Approximately forty minutes later, Mr. Rounds returned and resumed threating and shouting racial and misogynistic slurs at the property manager. Another tenant, who is Black, intervened to allow the property manager to retreat to her car. Mr. Rounds shouted racial slurs and threats at this man and then assaulted him. 

The civil complaint alleges that Mr. Rounds’s conduct constituted three separate threats of unlawful force or violence designed to coerce or terrorize the alleged victims, by placing the victims in fear of harm, and two separate acts of using physical force or violence. The civil complaint also alleges that Mr. Rounds was motivated by the alleged victims’ actual or perceived race, national origin, and/or sex when he engaged in this conduct and that his conduct interfered with the victims’ otherwise lawful activities. 

Each violation of the Civil Rights Act allows for a maximum civil penalty of $5,000. Violations of the Civil Rights Act also empower the court to restrain the defendant from committing future violations of the Civil Rights Act and other hate-motivated conduct for three years. With its complaint, the Civil Rights Unit has asked the court to implement a preliminary restraining order to protect the victims and the public from Mr. Rounds.

The complaints and the allegations contained herein are merely accusations that the Civil Rights Unit must prove at a final hearing. 

The Civil Rights Unit enforces state civil rights laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination. Anyone who believes their civil rights have been violated may file a complaint at https://www.doj.nh.gov/civil-rights/index.htm or by calling 603-271-3650.