Blaze News exclusive: LGBTQ activists harass, intimidate couple determined to protect kids from genital mutilation in NH

Last week, Blaze News introduced you to New Hampshire Peace Action, an NGO with Soviet roots and alleged terrorist ties that has already been criminally referred to the state AG's office for alleged charity fraud and RICO violations. In addition to its foreign policy activism, this group also trains a corps of volunteer "peacekeepers" who then provide private security services at local public events.

In Part II of this two-part exclusive series, Blaze News reveals that rather than keep the peace, these NHPA peacekeepers attempt to help far-left organizations bully into silence anyone who might dare oppose them.

Stephen and Beth Scaer are two such people. With the help of body cameras affixed to their clothing, the Scaers have captured multiple instances of physical intimidation, verbal harassment, and yes, even criminal violence from NHPA peacekeepers and other pro-trans activists.

NHPA did not respond to Blaze News' requests for comment.

'We couldn't stand by and do nothing': The Scaers' activism

By the hostile reaction they repeatedly incite from NHPA peacekeepers and other leftists, you might think that the Scaers are a physically commanding, formidable power couple, imposing their will without mercy. Instead, they are a pair of 61-year-old grandparents who simply want to keep children in their community from forced sterilization.

The Scaers then began making regular trips to the statehouse, often wearing cardboard signs denouncing the attempted legal erasure of sex differences and the gender-related medical misconduct imposed on vulnerable people.

Their political involvement began years ago, when they joined pro-life advocacy groups as an expression of their Christian faith. They were so passionate about the cause that they even traveled to the New Hampshire statehouse in Concord — about 35 miles north of their home in Nashua — to provide a pro-life witness to participants at some local women's marches that popped up across the country in early 2017 in response to the election of former President Donald Trump.

It was there that the Scaers first encountered NHPA peacekeepers, though back in 2017, these peacekeepers did actually provide some security, they told Blaze News. "They made space for us in their permitted area," Beth Scaer said.

"I looked forward to their presence."

That same year, the Scaers learned through a Christian organization that bills permitting men to enter women's bathrooms and play on their sports teams were under consideration in New Hampshire. So the couple decided to expand their activism and publicly protest these measures on behalf of women and children.

"We couldn't stand by and do nothing," Beth Scaer explained to Blaze News.

Photo shared with Blaze News. Used with permission

The Scaers then began making regular trips to the statehouse, often wearing cardboard signs denouncing the attempted legal erasure of sex differences and the gender-related medical misconduct imposed on vulnerable people, especially children. Stephen Scaer also began a social media account, @Sidewalk_Steve, to share his work and expose the bullying nature of those attempting to impose their radical agenda on the rest of the state.

During their protests against the transgender agenda, the Scaers once again began interacting with NHPA peacekeepers, but this time, the peacekeepers were not nearly so accommodating. In fact, they had become overtly contentious.

Beth Scaer has been shocked by the rapid change. She told Blaze News that one of the peacekeeper leaders "started out as very helpful, but in the last couple of years she has been taking sides against us."

"It's very weird."

Though he has not had any personal interaction with NHPA peacekeepers, New Hampshire Republican state Rep. Mike Belcher reported their actions to the state attorney general, describing them as a "private paramilitary-type group" that assumes "false authority" and issues "unlawful orders" in an effort to prevent conservatives like the Scaers from exercising their First Amendment rights. He believes NHPA's ultimate purpose for its peacekeepers is "to usurp police powers of the State on behalf of far-Left partisan public demonstrations."

What's more, the NHPA peacekeepers apparently have no legal right to pose as a security force in the first place. Blaze News confirmed with the permits and licensing division of the state Department of Safety that the NHPA has never had a state-issued security guard license required of anyone or any group "soliciting" security-related "work" in New Hampshire.

Earlier this month, New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella pledged to submit relevant materials about NHPA to the appropriate state investigative agencies to assess for probable cause, Belcher told Blaze News. Formella did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

'Antifa tactics': Peacekeepers' actions caught on video

Undeterred from advocating on behalf of children, the Scaers estimate they have engaged in political activism at the statehouse about 50 times, interacting with NHPA peacekeepers and other trans activists on at least a dozen occasions. Their experience led them to wear body cameras during these outings in case they need to share video evidence with law enforcement and/or the media.

The videos of NHPA peacekeepers' interactions with the Scaers shared with Blaze News evince a group eager to engage, frequently addressing the Scaers or blocking their path, even as they profess that they want the couple to leave. They also surround the Scaers, infiltrate their personal space, and issue orders that do not correspond to any local, state, or federal law. They even threaten to sic law enforcement on the Scaers for taking pictures or simply walking about public property.

'Aren't Christian men supposed to control their women?'

Stephen Scaer explained to Blaze News that the NHPA peacekeepers employ these kinds of "Antifa tactics" — crowding, swearing, and taunting — "to get a reaction." "They want to trap you and ... get you on an assault charge," he said, citing an unnamed cop as his source.

Though the timestamps on the following videos show an array of dates and times, all were filmed at a Pride event called Rainbow Recess, sponsored by the New Hampshire ACLU and held on the statehouse lawn on June 2, 2024. The peacekeepers are easily identifiable by the yellow lining and peace signs on their vests.

One male peacekeeper, covered in tattoos, threatened to unleash his "unkind side" because Beth Scaer took pictures of one of the booths set up at Rainbow Recess. "They are not giving you consent," the man asserts, though New Hampshire law does not forbid taking photographs of others in public, with or without consent.

Several peacekeepers then seem to get into a camera war with the Scaers, with both sides snapping photos of the other. "I'm just taking pictures," said one man before adding, "Don't take my picture."

"I'm asking you not to take my picture," he reiterates.

"Doesn’t work that way, buddy," Stephen Scaer retorted in the attending X message.

On other occasions, the peacekeepers physically obstruct the Scaers' movements. In the video below, the tattooed man attempts to prevent Beth Scaer from accessing literature freely offered at a nearby Pride tent.

Another video shows Beth Scaer attempting to escape to a different area of the statehouse lawn as the peacekeepers shadow her movements, sometimes even strangely waving or flapping their arms, perhaps to create a larger barrier between Beth and the Pride participants.

"Don't touch me!" Beth warns one of them.

"I'm not touching you. Don't worry, I'm not," the tattooed man replies. "How do you like my hand right in your camera?"

"You have to be back eight feet!" the older male peacekeeper insists at another point, prompting Beth to reply in exasperation, "You're following me! How can I step back when you're following me?"

At various times, one of the female peacekeepers calls Beth Scaer "hideous" and Stephen Scaer a "crybaby" and a "coward" and even ridicules the couple's Christian faith. "Aren't Christian men supposed to control their women?" she mocks at one point.

Though the Scaers are Christians, they told Blaze News that they do not make their faith a regular feature of their political activism. "We work with people from all beliefs to protect women and children," Beth said.

One of Rep. Belcher's Democrat colleagues in the state House, Rep. Tim Horrigan, claims to be a member of NHPA. When asked about the treatment the Scaers received from NHPA peacekeepers during the Rainbow Recess event, Horrigan told Blaze News that he did not witness anything personally, but based on videos he has seen, "nothing ... supports the accusations" made by Belcher, the Scaers, and others.

"To repeat what I just said four sentences ago: I WAS NOT THERE!" Horrigan's statement to Blaze News concluded.

'I watched the footage': The Scaers document other trans activists

The peacekeepers are not the only LGBTQ+ activists who have harassed or attempted to intimidate the Scaers. The couple have chronicled other instances of bullying committed by individuals with no known ties to NHPA, though they often followed a similar playbook.

Earlier this year, dozens of transgender activists lined a hallway inside the state Legislative Office Building in anticipation of protesting a bill to protect women's sports. Beth Scaer attended the legislative hearing as well, taking pictures of the activists and their signs, much to the activists' chagrin.

Paolini yelled, 'F*** you!' and grabbed Beth's phone and yanked it down, ostensibly in an unsuccessful attempt to knock it out of Beth's hand.

The radicals attempted to block Beth's way and ordered her to stop taking pictures, insisting that taking pictures of them was somehow unlawful because two adults had brought along their child. Impervious to their demands, Beth continued her trek, so the activists began crowding around her in a menacing manner and requested that she stop taking pictures, even as several of them had whipped out their phones to take pictures or video as well.

"Could you be a bit more polite to people?" one woman in a face mask passive-aggressively asked Beth as she tailed along beside her.

Brave Beth repeatedly reminded the group that she had not done anything wrong since "this is a free country." However, when the activists stepped too close, Beth ordered to them to "stay away."

One trans activist late last summer even resorted to violence to keep the Scaers from recording her public activism. At an alien event called Exeter UFO Festival in August, Beth was attacked by Laurie Paolini, a 61-year-old woman whose adult child identifies as transgender.

Almost from the moment the Scaers arrived at the festival, wearing their signature anti-transgender sandwich signs, Paolini, who was then a stranger to the Scaers, showed signs of hostility. She repeatedly approached the Scaers, asking heated — though civil — questions and even once stopped to snap a selfie with Stephen.

Then, suddenly, Paolini lost her cool. According to an arrest report, she gave Beth Scaer the middle finger, then proceeded to walk toward her until her middle finger was pressed to Beth's raised phone. A moment later, Paolini yelled, "F*** you!" and grabbed Beth's phone and yanked it down, ostensibly in an unsuccessful attempt to knock it out of Beth's hand.

The entire incident was, of course, caught on Beth's body camera:

(Warning: Language)

Paolini later told an Exeter police officer that Beth had "shoved a phone in her face" and then "started following her around." Another woman gave the officer a similar version of events. But Beth's bodycam tape didn't lie.

"I watched the footage," the officer wrote in the report. "... When Scaer took out her phone, at no point did she shove her phone in Paolini's face as she claimed and Scaer did not approach Paolini with her phone, it was Paolini who went up to Scaer."

Paolini was arrested and charged with simple assault, a misdemeanor. In March, she pled guilty and was issued a fine of $372, which was immediately suspended, provided she has no further contact with Beth Scaer and otherwise has one year of "good behavior."

Blaze News left a message at a phone number believed to be Paolini's but did not receive a returned call.

'I know you provoke them': NH officials apparently refuse to help

The Exeter police officer who investigated Beth Scaer's run-in with Paolini helped secure the Scaers some measure of justice in the face of constant physical threats and harassment from NHPA peacekeepers and other trans activists. But in most cases, cops have not been very helpful for the couple.

The Scaers have contacted New Hampshire State Police — the law enforcement agency in charge of policing the statehouse and its grounds — to report the NHPA peacekeepers for following them, barring their path, and engaging in other acts of aggression and intimidation during the Rainbow Recess event cited in an earlier section. Beth even furnished the agency with video evidence to support their claims.

'It is beyond parody that so many Democrats and so-called "moderate Republicans" are letting themselves be dictated to by a small histrionic group of far-left ideologues.'

To date, no official report has been filed with the agency. Trooper Chris Rollston even reportedly insinuated that the Scaers got what they deserved. "I know you provoke them," Rollston allegedly told Beth, referring to the peacekeepers.

The Scaers have likewise interacted with another security official, Chris Vetter, who is reportedly in charge of protecting the New Hampshire House. As with Rollston, those interactions have not led to any appreciable results.

In fact, Beth believes Vetter might harbor resentment against her for some reason, perhaps because of her activism. She even suggested to Blaze News that he may have been "spreading rumors" about her, though she did not elaborate on the nature of those rumors.

"My only guess is that Christopher Rollston was possibly counseled by Christopher Vetter about me not being someone he likes."

Neither the Department of State Police nor NHSP Troop D, the troop to which Rollston reportedly belongs, responded to Blaze News' request for comment.

The troopers are not the only authorities in the state who seem ambivalent about the cause of protecting kids against the transgender agenda. The state's most powerful political leader has thus far refused to take action, even after the legislature passed multiple bills related to protecting women and children against transvestic men.

One bill, H.B. 396, simply gives businesses and localities the option of preserving sex-segregated spaces, including bathrooms, locker rooms, sports teams, and correctional facilities. Yet Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, previously threatened to veto the measure.

Sununu has since walked back some of his prior statements and has suggested more recently that he may be more amenable to signing H.B. 396 and others like it. He can even opt not to take any action on the measures, which would mean they would become law after five days.

Cornerstone, a Christian advocacy organization in New Hampshire, hopes that Sununu will not prevent a tepid bill like H.B. 396 — which simply permits the possibility of sex-segregated spaces — from becoming law. "Only the most far-left 10% of our state opposes biological sex separation in our locker rooms, restrooms, and jails," said a statement from executive director Shannon McGinley. "It is beyond parody that so many Democrats and so-called 'moderate Republicans' are letting themselves be dictated to by a small histrionic group of far-left ideologues."

Sununu did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

With so few people in their state willing to take a stand to protect women and children, the Scaers believe they must continue fighting, no matter what torment befalls them. They even view the fight as personal now that one of their loved ones has died after first falling victim to the transgender agenda, though they asked Blaze News not to disclose further details about this private tragedy.

As part of that fight, Stephen Scaer is running as a Republican for the state Senate in district 13, which includes the blue city of Nashua. While winning would be nice, he told Blaze News the real purpose behind his campaign is to bring more awareness to the horrors of the transgender movement.

"I'm just using it to promote my cause of protecting boys and girls from this medical scandal and getting boys out of girls' sports and private spaces," he said.

"I just want to give people a choice."

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