FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Berlin, NH – The monthly Free State Project newsletter released on Thursday, February 29th featured a new mover member story for Dustin Duren, with a group photo of fellow Free State Project members moving him into an apartment in Berlin, NH earlier in the month. By Thursday night, according to charges from the Attorney General’s office and state police, Duren shot his partner Caitlyn Naffziger and fled with their two young children, triggering an Amber Alert. Duren was later found in Keene, NH and charged with murder.

Free State Project Monthly Newsletter – Archived (original link has been removed)

FSP Welcome Wagon seeking volunteers to move Duren in on February 7th, coordinated by Free State Project Moving Director Chris Lopez on FSP social media

Image from Free State Project Newsletter:

Statement from Granite State Progress Executive Director Zandra Rice Hawkins, “Our hearts and prayers are with the family and children of Caitlyn Naffziger. Along with the rest of New Hampshire, we are eager for the investigation to unfold and for justice to be served. It will be important during this time for the Free State Project to share what they know regarding Dustin Duren, who moved to New Hampshire with the intent to advance the goals of the Free State Project.”

Yesterday the Free State Project released a statement distancing themselves from Duren, despite featuring him in a newsletter just days before.

WMUR 3/4/24: “Naffziger’s family told News 9 that the couple had been together for several years and lived in Minnesota. They said Duren was a Marine veteran who recently moved to New Hampshire because he was interested in the Free State Project, a movement to recruit libertarians to move to the state. A spokesperson for the organization said Duren had requested help from some of their volunteers when he was moving in, but aside from that, they had little contact with him. “Like all Granite Staters, we are shocked and saddened to read this tragic news,” the organization said, in part, in a statement. “The Free State Project is a nonviolent movement that promotes peace and liberty. We condemn all acts of aggression.”

Duren joins a long list of Free State Project members charged with committing serious crimes in New Hampshire, including –

2012: Seabrook Free State Project Member, Republican State Legislator Charged with Felony for Reckless Discharge of Firearm. Seabrook Free Stater and former Republican State Rep. Max Abramson was convicted of a felony after recklessly discharging his firearm during a party in his Seabrook home.

2013: Manchester Free State Project Member Murders Son. Free Stater Muni Savyon murdered his 9-year-old son Joshua in Manchester before killing himself. Prior to the murder, Savyon worked to recruit and train Free State Project candidates for elected office. In a video regarding the death of Joshua, Free Stater David Ridley characterized it as “The first person ever murdered by one of our own.”

2016: Hudson Free State Project Member, Republican State Legislator Charged with Sexual Assault of Teen. Free Stater and former Republican State Rep. Eric Schleien faced charges of sexually assaulting a 16 year old girl during a 2016 incident. Schleien was charged in 2017 and pled guilty to simple assault in October 2018.

2017: Former Free State Project Member Indicted, Gains National Notoriety as “Crying Nazi”. Former Free Stater Christopher Cantwell is known internationally as the Crying Nazi of the Charlottesville Unite the Right riots, after which he was initially indicted on three felony assault charges. Cantwell was eventually expelled from the Free State Project due to his violent rhetoric, but only after years of such behavior.

2018: Free State Project Member Convicted of Stealing $93k from Child with Special Needs. Free Stater Brandon Ross was apprehended as a fugitive from justice in Florida and convicted of stealing over $90,000 from a disabled child’s special needs trust fund.

2019: Grafton Free State Project Member Shoots Motorist in Road Rage Incident. Free Stater Joseph Brown of Grafton pled guilty to simple assault and reckless conduct last year, after initially being charged with felonies following a road rage incident in 2019 during which he shot a man in the stomach. Brown’s three children were in his vehicle during the shooting; the wife and son of the victim were in the other vehicle. Brown was previously involved in a similar incident in 2005 where he was charged after brandishing a gun at another motorist, but the charges were suspended after jury selection. (Superior Court, Carroll County No. 05-S-358: State V. Joseph Brown) The case was cited in 2011 by gun lobby groups rallying for passage of a Stand Your Ground law in New Hampshire.

2023: Free State Project ‘Crypto 6’ Members Convicted in Bitcoin Case Which Swindled Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars from Seniors. Free Stater Ian Freeman and five others were charged with wire fraud and related charges stemming from a bitcoin operation that essentially allowed frauds to more easily scam elderly community members. Freeman and four of the defendants were ultimately convicted of the crimes.

2024: Free State Project Member Dustin Duren charged with murder, Amber Alert activation just weeks after moving to New Hampshire. Free Stater Dustin Duren has been arraigned for the murder of his partner, Caitlyn Naffziger. Duren was featured in the monthly Free State Project newsletter the day of the murder, in a post celebrating his arrival as a “new mover” and member of the Free State Project.

Contact information for Free State Project executive director Eric Brakey, a Republican Senator in Maine, can be found here.

About the Free State Project

The ultra-extreme Free State Project voted on a state to move 20,000 people to, with the stated purpose to take over state government and dismantle it. The Free State Project seeks to create a libertarian “utopia” void of public infrastructure and common laws, and to use the power of numbers to dramatically change New Hampshire – even threatening secession from the rest of the country.

The NH GOP has repeatedly worked in collaboration with the Free State Project over the years. The NH House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R) is a member of the Free State Project. At the local level, however, the Free State Project has faced overwhelming opposition over the last few years, losing major efforts to abolish public schools in Croydon, privatize Gunstock, and elect Free State Project founder Jason Sorens to local office.

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Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems.