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Racists get their rally permit; Boston bans all food and clothing vendors from Common on Saturday
By adamg on Wed, 08/16/2017 - 6:54pm
WBUR reports city officials have granted a permit to white supremacists for a rally on Boston Common on Saturday.
Boston police are urging people not to bring backpacks, sticks or anything that can be used as weapons. Police are planning to have extra officers on hand, as well as barriers to separate demonstrators and counter-demonstrators.
The Dig has details on the two counter-protests being planned.
On Monday, Mayor Walsh vowed to keep the city safe and said he was urging any families thinking of coming into Boston on a nice summer day to continue with their plans. One thing those families won't be able to do, however, is buy an hot dog or soda or try on a T-shirt or ball cap, because the city Parks and Recreation Department has banned all of the vendors who normally ply their wares along the Common's main paths.
In an e-mail to vendors yesterday, a Parks Department manager told the vendors:
Per order of the Boston Police Department and the Boston Parks Commissioner there will be NO VENDING OPERATIONS ALLOWED ON BOSTON COMMON on Saturday, August 19th. No vehicles will be allowed on the Boston Common as of 7:00 a.m. and throughout the day as needed.
I do apologize for any inconvenience this causes, however, public safety is of the utmost importance to the City of Boston. Please reach out to me if you have any questions. As more information becomes available I will update you accordingly.
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Comments
Was going to go if there was food.
Hard pass.
Jewish Vendor
One of our locations is on the Common. I pay a lot of money to the Boston parks dept to be there and Saturday is a BUSY much needed day.I was told it's a safety issue and I understand that but here's what's playing over and over in my head.
A Jewish small business owner is being forced to shut down his business so that Nazis can have a rally.
Should they really take precedence over us? If there really is a safety issue should they be given a permit at all?
This is really making me angry the more I think about it.
Guess who's coming?
Holocaust deniers & White Supremacists of course
http://reverepress.com/news/boston-approves-permit-white-supremacist-ral...
The government can't regulate
The government can't regulate freedom of expression. So if someone wants to have a rally, it can't be stopped. But the government can regulate commerce, so if they think there's going to be a safety issue somewhere, they can move or shut down commerce at that location.
Really, anyone who wants can
Really, anyone who wants can hold a really in Boston common? Nobody is ever denied permit?
Because if the City ever denied a permit for a rally
on the Common - as opposed to requiring the petitioning group to change the date or agree to specific conditions, they would have to have a truly compelling reason (i.e. one that would stand up in court) for doing so. Now, I'm an engineer, not a lawyer. However, IMO, in this case, just because the majority of thinking people are against what this rally stands for, or the fact certain businesses would be inconvenienced, sadly, wouldn't justify the City denying a permit. for the event.
Remember that we live in a country where any adverse action by the government, even a perceived action that may be justified for all sorts of reasons, automatically triggers legal action - especially when it involves Constitutional rights (in this case free speech). If the City had outright denied the permit for this rally, there's almost no doubt would be facing lawsuits by both neo-Nazi groups AND the ACLU. Not sure I'd want to be involved in that fight.
no subject
Vamos!
Por la Paz!
urging?
Boston police are urging people not to bring backpacks, sticks or anything that can be used as weapons.
50 to 1
Let do this folks.
Our republic . . . if we can keep it.
This sucks
If I can't buy a Harvard sweatshirt and some novelty Boston Baked Beans on the Common, what's the point? /s
Don't Worry
You can still get your sweatshirt in DTX.
At last count
the protest had 150 people planning to attend. That was before most of the high-profile Nazis fled with their tails between their legs. The counter-protest currently has ten thousand planning to attend.
See you on the Common, fascists! Hope you're not dumb enough to try the same stunts you tried in Virginia.
As always
No excuses please
Couldn't understand them. BUT, did it have anything to do with putting pigs (cops)in a blanket that I've heard from others?
Free speech is free speech.
Free speech is free speech.
And, speaking as a concerned ally: Careful, counterprotestors, lest YOU look like the aggressors.
Oooohhh
Please tell us about your experience with such things, huh?
#Protip
Nazis are the aggressors.
Don't give them what they want
Love Trumps Hate. The president and his supporters would like to see nothing more then violence at these events so they can spin the "alt-left" violence bogus narrative. Don't give in. Counter protesters should be peaceful and calm. There will be plenty of cops on hand who would love to drag the Supremacists to jail if they get out of line so let the police do their job.
The best images are of a tiny group of spoiled brats in a huge sea of peaceful counter protesters who show no fear nor aggravation.
Counterpoint
On the Propriety of Punching Nazis
You speak as if people don't know this
You speak as if you think people don't know this, or as if counterdemonstrators are likely to fly off the handle and simply start punching Nazis. What's your experience in these matters, exactly?
It isn't hate
Punching Nazis is Heritage.
My grandpa punched a few in his time - KKKlansmen, too!
Marty is violating my first amendment right to buy a hotdog!
Or something?
First
First there was a line at Tatte. And I said nothing.
Then they drove away the food trucks. And I said nothing.
Then Chicken & Rice guys was closed due to food poisoning again.
Finally I was starving and there was no place within 2 blocks to eat.
I think you're speaking of
I think you're speaking of your third amendment rights to compensation for the quartering of sausages.
Undoubtedly.
The "counter rioters" will undoubtedly make idiots of themselves.
Action
Metal Detectors and Security Theater?
Is that just for people attending the 4th of July concert and special events, but not for a group known to wear helmets, bring shields, and wave guns and clubs around?
Inquiring minds want to know!
That's actually a good idea
considering we know that besides the open carrying militia in Charlottesville that the neo-nazis were conceal carrying. See 19:00 in video:
https://news.vice.com/story/vice-news-tonight-full-episode-charlottesvil...
I thought Marty stated he would ensure they didn't get a permit?
This is going to be a disaster. We're going to massively outnumber the Nazis. I hope Marty is prepared to have the Nazis arrested quickly when they cross the line, before good people are forced to physically defend themselves.
Not how he put it
What he said was he didn't want the racists having their protest, not in Boston and especially not just a week after the Charlottesville attacks. But he also said he recognized the First Amendment, too, and that he couldn't stop them from showing up.
In fact, Evans was hoping they would get a permit, because that way BPD could work with them and keep them (and the counter protesters) out of trouble.
The Neo-Nazi's are coming!
Mom's basements and tough guy internet chat rooms across the Commonwealth will be barren all day Saturday!
Quick reminder
to any local folks who might be inclined to join the fellas who are holding the rally. As a rule, they tend not to like Catholics very much, so you may not want to chat about your days at St Mary's or whatever.
eh... you're giving them too
eh... you're giving them too much credit. 90% of these yokels don't know enough about their own purported doctrine to know that catholics are also an enemy of the white man. or something like that.
The "Free Speech Rally"
The "Free Speech Rally" warrants a Nazi tag? Shouldn't we be encouraging everyone in Massachusetts to support free speech, even if we disagree with the message?
Have you looked at who the
Have you looked at who the speakers are? This warrants the nazi tag because these people are legitimate neo-nazis. I'll be supporting free speech by voicing mine.
Proud Boys, alt-knight street fighters, and Kyle Chapman
Proud Boys, founded by a Canadian guy named Gavin McInnis, has a street-fighting arm called alt-knights, founded by a 41 year old ex-con named Kyle Chapman. Chapman said he was coming to Boston then, after Charlottesville said he wasn't, so I guess we'll see. He was in Boston in May as was McInnis.
Two of alt-knight goals are confrontation and destroying Marxists. They wear helmets, makeshift armor and carry clubs that double as flag poles. Chapman was arrested at a Free Speech rally in Berkeley CA for assault and battery and at the time of his arrest he was carrying a firearm and a hunting knife. He lives in Austin TX
Piss off
Fucking shitgabbon Nazi scum.
Naked, hungry, and racist.
Naked, hungry, and racist.
If only
Then we might better understand their dread fear of being cuckholded.
Why ban food vendors?
Plenty of us counterdemontrators would happily patronize them.
When an event already
When an event already logistically seems like a nightmare and there's a risk of things turning violent or going wrong, and due to first amendment you can't cut out the largest chaotic elements, it makes sense to control for any possible smaller element.
After a woman got murdered with a car, for example, having people blocking possible exit route with food carts and presenting big targets of tee shirt displays is something the city CAN control for and so is doing so.
I'll be there. Fuck these assholes.
I'll be there. Fuck these assholes.
Another word of caution
Free speech is not fascism. Conservatism is not fascism. Right-libertarianism is not fascism. Not-liberalism is not fascism and whiteness is not fascism.
Respect that other people may disagree with your ideas and that you may disagree with theirs. Don't let your passions rule you. Don't get into the mode of seeing Nazis around every corner.
We think alike and I find it
We think alike and I find it refreshing!
What about neoconservatism?
What about neoconservatism?
Piss off
This ain't a dog park, put away the dog whistle.
You act like
There wasn't some huge rally in our country recently with people proudly waving Nazi flags.
I don't see Nazis around every corner
But when I see people displaying swastikas and chanting "Blood and Soil," I think it's a fair bet that there are Nazis involved.
All the more important
to be clearheaded about who is and who is not a Nazi.
If you find that everyone who's right of left is branded a Nazi or their fellow traveler, then you're doing it wrong, and all I can say is that the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.
Are you actually that tone-deaf
or are you just doing a terrible job of dog-whistling?
That's twice you've used the
That's twice you've used the phrase dog-whistle. You must have learned in on MSNBC the other day and are proud to put it to use. Clearly you see anyone who doesn't agree with you as a Nazi. Step off the progressive soap-box and maybe take him for his word you judgmental prick...Its never ceases to amaze me how intolerant and illiberal some liberals truly are.
And begin the count down for me getting slandered and called a bigoted nazi trump supporter. 3....2...1....
Hey CCD
That wasn't the same person, twice.
Enjoying your biscuit?
I don't know if maybe you
I don't know if maybe you're under the impression that this is a case of people just classifying run of the mill republicans as nazis or something, but it's not. These people are legitimately, without hyperbole, white supremacists and neo-nazis. One of the speakers at this event has a published paper in favor of eugenics and has openly stated that he's trying to start a civil war. If you want to align yourself with these people, that's your business, but I think that's despicable.
Oh, honey
Charlie Baker is a Republican and there ain't nobody gonna call him a Nazi!
*eyeroll*
Call me old fashioned, but when I see protesters marching with torches, waving swastikas and chanting "We will not be replaced" and beating black people, I can't help but suspect that there are Nazis afoot. I'd be real careful of denying that fact on its face, because history has not been kind to people who have denied the existence of Nazism.
And yet you have to argue the point.
I don't know what GOP you think you're part of, but the party of stern men in suits, shaking their heads and telling us we can't afford it, died thirty years ago. In its place, we now have a party that, even if it doesn't officially espouse white nationalism, is headed by a man who refuses to condemn Nazis for killing American protesters. Or, as we used to call them, "a Nazi sympathizer." It's a shrieking, frothing chorus of madmen who would let genocide happen if it meant they could get the top marginal tax rate down to 20%. Paul Ryan won't be at the rally on Saturday, but each and every senior party leader who isn't calling for impeachment is now complicit in whatever bloodshed is to come. And there will for damn sure be more bloodshed, because, as I may have mentioned, there are NAZIS marching on BOSTON FUCKING COMMON.
So why violence? Are we going
So why violence? Are we going to try and force them to like us through violence? I think a better option is to ask everyone to stay home and let them have their rally by themselves. We are not going to change any of their minds. How fun would it be for them to show up to an empty Common? My wife and I deal with racism and homophobia on a daily basis so I get the frustration part but bloodshed will not erase hate. There has to be another way.
It's not about changing THEIR minds
You deal with racism and homophobia on a daily basis and you still think this is about "frustration"? Really?
Honestly, I'm astonished that you deal with racism and homophobia every day, and you still think that those who fight against oppression are "try[ing to] force them to like us" through violence or any other means. Really?
We live in evil times, yet I wonder if you've ever had the experience of walking past a rally of people dedicated to your eradication and saying so in no uncertain terms. That is what happened in Charlottesville last weekend. Imagine it. Bring the full force of your imagination to bear on it. Imagine being in that black church, surrounded by armed white supremacists baying hate slogans. They were not there for peaceful political discourse, they were there to intimidate, to strike fear into the hearts of those they would oppress. Imagine yourself there. Or imagine yourself, a queer POC who simply wants to walk across Boston Common on a Saturday, and runs into these yahoos. Imagine yourself as a queer POC who wants to avoid Boston Common on a Saturday, but who still runs into a gang of racist thugs who have spilled over into neighboring streets.
That is what happened in Charlottesville. The Nazis and KKK didn't simply stay in their assigned areas and then disperse peacefully to enjoy the happy hour special at Applebee's. They went looking for trouble. And while I have tremendous confidence in BPD's ability to do a much better job, they are not gonna follow the thugs once they disperse. Been there, done that. Homophobes used to hang out at the fringes of Boston Pride and target people leaving.
So that's you now. Do you want to stand alone? Or do you want a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand people there saying that they will not stand by while you are targeted?
This is not about getting them to "like us". This is about showing up and standing with the oppressed. We cannot do this if we mouth platitudes as an excuse for inaction. You will make your choice, and others will make theirs. But don't try to claim the moral high ground and second-guess the outcome, because the evidence is against you.
You do it your way and I'll
You do it your way and I'll do it mine. We have done our share of protesting so don't need to be lectured. It's the pro-violence talk that we just don't agree with. Let the police do their job.
????
What "proviolence" talk.
Is describing the violent murderous acts of recent note perpertrated BY WHITE SUPREMICISTS somehow "pro violence talk" in your confused little brain?
If so, you will find a lot of help available on the web for your reading comprehension problem.
Oh and be careful and use
Oh and be careful and use spell check next time you're trying to make someone feel less than.
So why violence? Are we going
So why violence? Are we going to try and force them to like us through violence? I think a better option is to ask everyone to stay home and let them have their rally by themselves. We are not going to change any of their minds. How fun would it be for them to show up to an empty Common? My wife and I deal with racism and homophobia on a daily basis so I get the frustration part but bloodshed will not erase hate. There has to be another way.
That's Nice
but NAZIs are fascists regardless of their opinion on the first amendment. Also, they are inherently violent and need to be stopped.
Roman Lamplighter
Here to spew methane and clouds of "it's not nazis blah blah blah".
Back again to gaslight.
Cut off the monster's head, I say.
We all know who's responsible for this resurrection of evil. Better to surgically excise the gangrenous tissue at the top of the body politic than to get goaded into a bloody civil war.
Dude, you just goaded
Dude, you just goaded everyone into starting a bloody civil war.
Why do they need to hide
Why do they need to hide their beliefs behind a dressed-up euphemism such as "free speech"?
Why?
So that people like one here can claim, "Oh, they're not necessarily all Nazis." Sometimes guilt by association is a valid basis for judgement.
Proud to be this lady's
I'm getting a feeling it
I'm getting a feeling it would be wise to keep a keen eye on protecting our Jewish temples in Boston and surrounding Brookline, Newton, etc. while these monsters are in town.
Need more options
Is there a counter protest option for those who also don't want to associate with Black Lives Matter? Church groups? Ecumenical groups?
There are two protest events
One starts at Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury and marches up to the Common. The other is a stationary rally in front of the State House. Choose one.
Yeah I mean you definitely
Yeah I mean you definitely don't want to have anyone think that just because you're against Nazis that you're also against the unjustified shootings of unarmed black men and boys by the police state.
Big fan of this narrative...
The unjustified shootings bit...100% of shootings are unjustified...exactly.
My other favorite is that anyone who isn't liberal or who doesn't enjoy the ideology is a Nazi/White Supremacist.
You guys always put a smile on my face....keep fighting the good fight <3
I believe the protest for
I believe the protest for people who don't believe black lives matter is on the common and has about ~150 people going
are you sure...
Are you sure you mean "counter protest"?
The news media will outnumber
The news media will outnumber the rally.
What a week this was!
We started the week worried about our brothers and sisters on the island of Guam getting nuked by a nut job..We then proceed on to the great state of Virginia where keyboard klansmen and nazis hold a torch rally and do battle with left wing anarchists. The next day a beautiful girl is murdered by a domestic terrorist, Now we await the battle of Boston Common to commence on Saturday. Compare this to last year when all you had to worry about was getting chomped on the leg by a great white shark off the coast of Cape Cod. I worry about the lack of leadership in this country but a young girl named Jeannie Richards who has more courage and leadership qualities than the whole lot of them restored my faith in America.
*Woman. She was in her 30s.
*Woman. She was in her 30s. And her beauty has nothing to do with anything. Please show respect.
"Battle"??
"battle of Boston Common"? I don't find the violent hyperbole helpful, especially since organizers of the counter-demonstrations are making every effort to ensure peaceful protests.
Also I am not sure who Jeannie Richards is, do you mean Jane Richard? Who, with her family definitely has displayed welcome courage and leadership this week.
I'm sorry but the tough guy
I'm sorry but the tough guy talk of Uhubbers is making me laugh.
And no, I'm not a Nazi or sympathizer (I shouldn't even have to say that but it is 2017)
What "tough guy talk" would that be?
What "tough guy talk" would that be?
If you disagree with the UHUB masses....
Not only are you a Nazi and a sympathizer, you're all of the following:
bigot, racist, sexist, xenophobe, Islamophobe, demagogue, white supremacist, Trump supporter, anti-American, and a whole host of other adjectives that I can't recall at this moment...
You guys have all of these memorized, so feel free to fill in the blanks with anything I missed, if you like.
If the jackboots fit ...
We don't "call" you those "names" ... you have posted plenty enough here to EARN those like a bunch of jackoff merit badges.
Oh, be we know you are excited for tomorrow.
The jackboots do not fit and never have....
I've earned exactly zero names except from morons like yourself. People here happily call anyone out and jump to one or more conclusions (usually using at least one buzzword) when their vision isn't properly aligned....I don't see eye to eye with liberals on most things so evidently that's a big issue and I've earned names? I'm not offended.....it cracks me up, but it's an odd approach. It does make you happy so by all means, continue.
Isn't the rally on Saturday? I'm out of town and don't attend rallies anyway....but have a ball...and give 'em hell out there.
I realize this is serious but
I realize this is serious but I can't be the only one that read the headline as "Boston bans food and clothing" from the common on Saturday... just an observation. Yankees suck, Nazis more so.
Freeze peach
Yes, you can come and exercise your first amendment rights, but for security's sake you must be naked and hungry.
It would make security much
It would make security much easier at these things
This sucks that they'd grant
This sucks that they'd grant a permit to something that is so potentially dangerous at the detriment to local businesses.
I'm sure this puts me in the minority
But I think the best thing we can do to these alt-right Nazi types is ignore their rallies.
They are rallying for attention. They want to cause a scene. If we meet them with gawking and media and noisy counter-protests, we are giving them what they want, which is attention and to upset others and provoke them into behaving emotionally in response.
What I propose is we freeze them out. They host a rally, we clear out the area. Residents who live in the area take a day trip elsewhere, or stay in their homes with the curtains drawn. Businesses who can close, so rally attendants cannot purchase water, snacks, meals, or souvenirs. Businesses who must stay open do not watch the rally and quietly and calmly refuse service to anyone who is openly displaying evidence of having attended the rally. People who do not need to be in the area avoid it, people who must travel through the area look away as they pass through.
Shunning is a valid, peaceful, and powerful way of making a point that some behaviors are so wildly unacceptable that they should not even be acknowledged in polite society, and a great way of refusing to take the bait of those who are deliberately trying to incite violence in others.
That's not going to happen.
That's not going to happen. People in Boston have a lot of frustration built up going back to November 9. These counter protests are an outlet.
and quietly and calmly refuse
Nice idea, except for one big problem. It would NEVER pass legal muster should the patron(s) denied service decide to sue.