Before He Was a GOP Lawmaker, This Ex-Cop Was Fired Over Rape and Mass Shooting Threats

Local and state-level politics is often a toxic ecosystem, but new reporting into a New Hampshire state lawmaker presents an elected official with an especially vile background. According to an internal investigation first reported by In Depth NH on Friday, before being elected to the state House in 2022, state Rep. Jon Stone (R) was ousted from his position at the Claremont Police Department in 2006 after he threatened to rape the police chief’s daughter and go on a shooting spree—on top of having an exploitative, inappropriate relationship with a teenage girl. In Depth NH found Stone had been the subject of at least 14 internal affairs investigations during his tenure at the Claremont PD—but that apparently didn’t disqualify him from holding an elected public office for two terms now.

Ironically enough, Stone currently sits on the New Hampshire state House’s Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Stone narrowly won one of two seats in his House district in November 2022, edging out his Republican rival by just 14 votes, according to Ballotpedia. Stone ran on an aggressively pro-gun platform, and in his unsuccessful campaign for Claremont city council last fall, he ran on a promise to “[bring] your voice to City Hall and accountability to our city government”—even though he refused to accept being terminated for misconduct as a cop and sued the city in retaliation. His platform also emphasized “family values,” which is pretty contrary to just about everything the Claremont Police Department uncovered in its investigations of him.

Stone’s voting record in the state House this session includes rejecting a bill to enshrine a right to abortion and voting to uphold medically unnecessary restrictions. And his campaign social media accounts have shared numerous posts about protecting access to guns and advocating for assault rifle ownership. All of this is especially foreboding given his history.

The documents reviewed by In Depth NH mostly come from 2006, when Stone was the subject of several investigations and had a reputation for being aggressive and unstable. Amid an investigation into his relationship with a 15-year-old high school student, other officers expressed concern that Stone would become violent. “If he gets fired, people are afraid he will go postal,” one detective at the department told Colby Casey, the detective who was investigating Stone. “He makes me nervous as far as after a confrontation with him, he may try to do something to my wife or family. Generally, people think he is crazy and wonder why he is a police officer.”

At the time, the police chief believed that Stone had been engaging in a relationship with the minor for several months under the guise of investigating her for substance use. The investigation found that Stone allegedly made plans to have a sexual relationship with the girl when she turned 17 as well as plans for the two to travel to Canada together when she turned 18 so that she could legally drink. Stone was ordered not to communicate with the minor during the investigation and broke this order by calling her twice. He was consequently suspended for five days.

Around the same time as that investigation, the department opened additional investigations into Stone over his repeated, violent threats against other officers and the department writ large, including a threat to carry out a shooting spree at the police station. Another detective also recounted some especially disturbing comments from Stone: “I have heard him say (when he is pissed off) that he is going to go to the Chief’s house and rape his wife. He is going to make the Chief watch. He is going to possibly hurt the Chief while he is there,” the officer said, according to internal documents. “I recall Jon saying he was going to go to the Chief’s house and rape the Chief’s wife, and kids, and shoot the Chief.”

Casey wrote in his findings that “Stone did not deny saying the things and did not report the others interviewed were lying—he just simply avoided answering the questions directly by using selective memory.” Casey also concluded that Stone lied several times in his interviews.

Sexual misconduct allegations and violent, threatening behavior are, unfortunately, not especially uncommon among law enforcement. But it’s especially jarring that 18 years after being terminated from his local police department for such heinous behavior, Stone is now serving in the state legislature, where festering right-wing extremism is escalating in the state and New Hampshire Democrats need to flip just seven seats to gain control of the legislature. 

A spokesperson for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee called Stone’s record “disqualifying” in a statement shared with Jezebel. The Republican State Leadership Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reporting on Stone and whether the committee will still support his reelection.