Boston: Tens of Thousands Turn Out Against Far-Right ‘Free Speech’ Rally
Boston, MA – On Saturday, August 19, thousands of Boston-area residents converged on Boston Common to show that a far-right “free speech” rally billed to include white supremacist and neo-Nazi speakers was not welcome in the city.
In a major show of unity, the diverse crowd representing many neighborhoods in this highly segregated northeastern city made it clear that white supremacy and racist messages were not acceptable.
Unicorn Riot has photos from the counter-protest and livestreams from the hours after the event. Unicorn Riot’s live feed for this event is here:
#Bostonresists: Another part of the massive tens of thousands sized crowd coming out against the far-right today in #BostonCommon pic.twitter.com/sthSmEeZg7
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
Earlier: Tens of thousands of people confronting few dozen far-right people, bandstand soon cleared out & they left w BPD escort #Boston pic.twitter.com/fW7awujVKq
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
BOSTON: Tens of thousands of people rallied today in counterprotest vs far right rally, here is just one side of the crowd #bostonresist pic.twitter.com/ME1ylcrtCq
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
The far-right crowd of roughly 40 to 50 participants was hustled onto police wagons near the Public Garden then routed along Tremont St., through Chinatown and according to several sources, South Station, which is a major regional bus and rail terminal.
#BOSTON Earlier: police loaded far-right rally participants into police wagons near Garden, they later went towards Tremont St & Chinatown pic.twitter.com/Y6q8IIxGZn
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
NEW VIDEO: Clip from breakoff group behind Massachusetts State Capitol & shows how far-right was loaded on police wagons #BostonResist pic.twitter.com/74P2217peJ
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
One Unicorn Riot reporter was attacked after 2PM by a far-right man on the Livestream, without suffering damage.
Large groups circulated throughout Beacon Hill and Tremont Street. Near the Boylston Street MBTA Green Line station at Tremont and Boylston, police used mace and force to push crowds of counter-protesters. Police made several violent arrests downtown as they tried to forcefully disperse antifascists who had followed some of the far-right/fascist rally attendees, who police were providing security for, into area businesses.
Thousands of people hanging out in #BostonCommon, chanting & singing, only the occasional reactionary trolls; police backed out of area pic.twitter.com/3VCE74gYrb
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) August 19, 2017
As of 5PM EDT thousands of people are still around the Boston Common area, and despite occasional trolls trying to rile up crowds, overall there is virtually no openly far-right presence to be seen.
DigBoston.com and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism released in-depth reports and coverage from the earlier leg of the march that started in Roxbury.
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