2 Arrested for Placing Explosive Device in Salem, Massachusetts, LGBT Newspaper Box

Two men from New Hampshire were arrested for the crime

Two New Hampshire men are now facing charges for the August explosion at a newspaper box in downtown Salem, Massachusetts.

Rainbow Times Editor-in-Chief Nicole Lashomb says she's grateful the two people have been identified by investigators.

"I think when you're a member of any disenfranchised group or marginalized community, there's always a disappointment when you know likely that something was because of a hate-filled act," said Lashomb.

It was back in August that surveillance cameras captured images of seven people near the Rainbow Times newspaper box in downtown Salem.

Police say the suspects placed an incendiary device inside and that led to an explosion.

The force was strong enough to destroy the box.

The two men identified by police are 23-year-old John Richard of Hollis and 20-year-old Lawrence Gilman of Milford. Both are facing charges for the crime and are expected in court on Friday.

At the time of the August incident, police said they were treating it as a hate crime because the Rainbow Times covers the LGBTQ community in New England.

But the newspaper says it's been told that investigators were not able to find clear evidence to prosecute a hate crime violation.

"Hate crimes are very difficult to prove," said Lashomb. "Nobody knows what exactly is in the minds or the hearts of who committed this crime, only they know."

Police are not saying if anyone else in the surveillance video has been identified.

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