A Weare woman who told 911 that she shot at a man’s car on her property partly because “the guy is Black” has been charged with Civil Rights Violations by the state Attorney General’s Office.
The civil charge is on top of ongoing criminal charges that have not yet gone to trial.
The event in question happened about 6 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2024, when a Black man identified as X.G. drove onto the property of Diane Durgin, 67, in Weare to “complete the purchase of a car part he had prearranged with a seller online.” The actual seller was at a different property nearby, according to court documents.
Durgin, who is white, approached the car and unholstered her pistol after she saw the man. He “explained why he was there and showed (Durgin) his phone conversation with the seller arranging the purchase, ” according to a memorandum in support of a preliminary injunction filed by Attorney General John Formella.
Durgin continued to point her gun at X.G. and called him a “Black mother****r,” according to court documents. He drove away down her driveway at which point Durgin fired twice at him, missing both times, but caused him to drive into a ditch.
X.G. left the car and ran off, calling 911. Durgin also called 911, during which the following exchange occurred:
Dispatcher: Why did you shoot at this person?
Defendant: Because he’s telling me…first of all, he’s lurking around my yard looking at stuff, my equipment yard. And then he’s telling me he’s supposed to be meeting a guy here. The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal.
Dispatcher: Okay, so you shot…
Defendant: [talking over dispatcher] I shot at his…I shot…I shot at his car.
On March 19, a grand jury indicted Durgin for one count of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, one count of criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon, and one count of attempted first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. That case is proceeding in Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester; a trial has not yet been scheduled.
The case was also given to the attorney generals’ Civil Rights Unit, which ran a separate investigation before proceeding with the civil action on March 2, also in Hillsborough County Superior Court.
The complaint alleges three violations of the state’s Civil Rights Act, each of which carries a maximum penalty of $5,000, and also requests a restraining order “to protect the victim and the public.”
Sean Locke, senior assistant attorney general and director of the Civil Rights Unit, said the agency has bought 10 to 15 such civil rights cases to court in the past few years. He said the unit gets “about 200-225 complaints a year,” most of which concern discrimination cases rather than civil rights violations.
Anyone who believes their civil rights have been violated may file a complaint at www.doj.nh.gov/bureaus/civil-rights-unit or by calling 603-271-3650.