Scores of right-wing protesters clashed repeatedly with hundreds more counter-demonstrators Sunday on Boston Common amid a heavy police presence, including officers in riot gear, that led to two arrests.
The dueling protests came after Super Happy Fun America, a regional group with ties to the far right and organizers of the 2019 Straight Pride Parade in Boston, announced it would hold a noontime demonstration at the Common to “Restore America to Constitutional Rule,” according to a flyer for the event.
The protest was intended to “oppose vaccine passports, unconstitutional mandates, and massive layoffs,” the statement said.
A counter-demonstration, dubbed “Mask Up Against Hate,” was scheduled to begin about 30 minutes earlier to oppose the right-wing group, which organizers in a statement dubbed “our local fascists.”
Elizabeth Birdsall, 39, who was among the counter-demonstrators, said she was helping to push back against those who want to make Boston “less safe and less equal.” She held a sign reading, “No Hate in Boston.”
“We heard there was going to be a rally of anti-vaxxers and white supremacists and so forth, and we wanted to help drown that out,” Birdsall said, “and support safety and equality for everyone in Boston.”
The scene Sunday, at times chaotic, included moments where some participants in the protest organized by Super Happy Fun America marched around a line of police officers and got into shoving matches with counter-demonstrators shortly before noon a short distance from the Parkman Bandstand.
At one point, demonstrators from both sides also wrestled over segments of metal barricades meant to keep the sides apart Sunday, and officers in helmets and armor carrying shields and batons were deployed to prevent the violence from escalating.
Despite the conflicts, there were no reports of injuries among demonstrators or officers at the scene, according to Sergeant Detective John Boyle, a Boston police spokesman.
“We had a well-prepared solid plan,” Boyle said. “The fact that two people were arrested, and no injuries, no officer injuries, I don’t see a break down.”
The encounters between the two sides were serious enough that, even before members of Super Fun Happy America unloaded their gear from a van, a line of Quincy police officers formed a line between them and a larger number of counter protesters shortly before 11:30 a.m. near a sandwich shop close to the bandstand. The van was ultimately moved to a position further away from the counter protest and behind several lines of barricades and police.
A member of Super Happy Fun criticized police for not doing enough to protect them, and yelled at Quincy officers: “We used to be your biggest supporters — now we’ll be your biggest critics!”
Counter-demonstrators chanted past the line of officers: “Nazis out!”
Samson Racioppi, an organizer with Super Happy Fun, declined to speak to a Globe reporter Sunday. He told WBZ-TV that his group blamed the problems Sunday squarely on Mayor-elect Michelle Wu.
“We think this is political. We think they didn’t want our message here. For the most part, I believe the police support us and what we do. It’s the higher ups, it’s the brass, it’s the political positions that don’t,” Racioppi said.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.
"right" - Google News
November 08, 2021 at 03:45AM
https://ift.tt/3kedkAR
Right-wing protesters, counter-demonstrators clash repeatedly on Boston Common - The Boston Globe
"right" - Google News
https://ift.tt/32Okh02
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Right-wing protesters, counter-demonstrators clash repeatedly on Boston Common - The Boston Globe"
Post a Comment