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Thousands of Anti-Racism Protesters Drowned Out Boston's 'Free Speech' Rally


PHOTO: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Nerves were high in the hours before a “Free Speech” rally in Boston on Saturday that many feared would be a “haven for neo-Nazis and white nationalists,” according to the New York Times. And those concerned had reason to be nervous: after a series of rallies last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in violence, a domestic terrorist attack, three deaths, and a nation grappling with newly energized alt-right, white nationalist, and white supremacist groups, no one knew what to expect from Boston.

As of early Saturday afternoon, however, thousands of counter-protesters in solitary with Charlottesville and shouting anti-Nazi slogans overwhelmed the 50 or so people who showed up for the “Free Speech” rally—which had, one organizer admitted to the AP, “fallen apart.” It also ended sooner than planned: around 12:50, ahead of an anticipated 2 P.M. end time.

Solidarity With Charlottesville Rallies Are Held Across The Country, In Wake Of Death After Alt Right Rally Last Week

PHOTO: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Police estimate that 30,000 to 40,000 people participated in the demonstrations around the Common throughout the day, according to the Globe.

The counter-protesters had marched through the city to Boston Common, toward where a group was gathered at the bandstand for the “free speech” rally. Five hundred police officers were present, and partitions separated the counter-protesters from the bandstand.

"Boston Free Speech" Rally And Counterprotest

PHOTO: Nicholas Pfosi for The Boston Globe via Getty Images

After police led those at the bandstand away, some protestors “scuffled with armed officers trying to maintain order,” according to the AP.

"Boston Free Speech" Rally And Counterprotest

PHOTO: John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The rally, organized by Boston Free Speech, had been planned before Charlottesville, according to the Times. The AP reports that they were conservatives, but the group maintains in a Facebook statement that it opposes all forms of censorship, denounces supremacy, and had no ties with the Charlottesville group.

Read the full post below:

One organizer told the Times that the event was appealing to all political parties (“libertarians, conservatives, traditionalists, classical liberals, Trump supporters or anyone else who enjoys their right to free speech”); another of the rally’s organizers told the Globe that the event wasn’t a right-wing one: “We want to do is show people that we can listen to each other, that we can bring reasonable opinions together without resorting to violence,” Medlar told the newspaper before talking about white supremacists: “Get your own rally…they use the First Amendment as a shield for themselves, but they won’t stand up and defend the First Amendment for the people that they oppose.”

Whether they offer a “platform” to bigots or not, “Free Speech” rallies have come under fire for being “in defense of hate speech,” according to Vox. Two of the 14 speakers that the event had scheduled held far-right views, according to the Globe.

After the rally, members of Black Lives Matter took their turn on the Common to protest. At least one person was arrested as some demonstrators “pounded on the sides of a police vehicle,” according to the AP. Around 26 other arrests, many for disorderly conduct, were made throughout the day, according to latest figures from the Globe at the time of publish.

Trump, of course, had something to say:

Later, he added two more tweets:

Once protesters left, the AP reports, some stuck around to play the bongos and throw around some beach balls.

Although the Times reports that Saturday’s demonstration seems to be the “epicenter” of anti-racism events around the country, several have been held or are planned around the country, from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Portland, Oregon. Other pre-planned “Free Speech” rallies continued as scheduled around the country, according to Vox.

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