The leader of a New England-based neo-Nazi group charged in a fight that sprang up around a drag queen story hour in Boston in July appeared in court on Monday and asked to represent himself, authorities said.
Christopher Hood, a 23-year-old from Pepperell, Massachusetts, was charged with affray -- fighting in a public place -- over the July 23 incident, in which Hood's group protested the drag queen story hour at Jamaica Plain's Loring Greenough House.
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People protesting against fascism appeared outside court Monday.
Hood is set to appear in court again on Oct. 17 for another pre-trial hearing. He is the leader of a white supremacist group called NSC-131, which has been involved in other hate incidents in the Boston area.
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When Hood first appeared in court after the fight, he was ordered to stay away from two counter-protesters who were also arrested, and prosecutors dropped charges against the counter-protesters.
Far right groups have been holding protests of drag queen story hours nationwide. Often, the protesters carry weapons.
In the wake of the drag queen story hour protest and fight in Boston, federal and county prosecutors announced that they are expanding their efforts to combat the recent rise in "hate-based incidents" in the area.
