About 100 people affiliated with the Patriotic Front, a white supremacist group, marched through downtown Boston on Saturday, carrying police shields and flags emblazoned with the group’s logo.
Breaking the news: Police received a call around 12:30 a.m. that a group of protesters were marching through the city, although their route was unknown, CNN reported.
- Many of the demonstrators wore khaki pants and dark polo shirts, with cloth coverings over the lower parts of their faces, along with sunglasses and hats.
Current Status: The group approached a rental truck parked near the Haymarket subway stop and unloaded shields and a number of different flags, according to the Boston Herald.
- Among them were American flags, some turned upside down and others showing only the 13 stars of the original American colonies. Other flags show versions of the symbol used by Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, according to the Herald.
- Patriotic Front flags were also flying, according to CNN.
- Boston police received a report around 1:25 p.m. about an injured black man in a clash with demonstrators at the Patriotic Front.
- The man told police he was pushed, knocked to the ground and assaulted by members of the group, suffering several lacerations. He was later taken to Tufts Medical Center, the Herald reported.
- Around 1:30 p.m., the band left the stage via the subway after packing their material into a rental truck, according to the Herald.
The big picture: City Council President Ed Flynn wrote in a letter Saturday that members of neo-Nazi groups have “continued to make their presence felt” in Boston in recent months.
- In February, they targeted doctors working to address racial disparities in health care at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and appeared in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in March, Flynn wrote.
- In June, 31 members of the Patriotic Front were arrested in Idaho after they were caught planning to riot at an LGBTQ Pride event.
What to watch: The Boston Police Department is conducting a civil rights investigation into the incident, and no arrests have yet been made, according to the Herald.
What they say: “Disgusting hatred of white racists has no place here. [Especially] when so many of our rights are under attack, we will not normalize intimidation by bigots,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu tweeted Saturday.
- “It is utterly repulsive to once again read reports and watch videos on social media of dozens of neo-Nazis making yet another brazen public display of their hateful ideology,” Flynn wrote in his letter.
Add Comment