Hey, there! Log in / Register
Racists mill about the Parkman Bandstand for awhile, say nothing, are driven off Common in back of prisoner transport wagons
By adamg on Sat, 08/19/2017 - 4:42pm
A couple dozen racists and Nazis, one dressed as a Minuteman, spent an hour or so standing on and near the Parkman Bandstand this afternoon under the baleful eyes of thousands of jeering protesters before slowly walking away and towards the Boylston Street side of Boston Common, to await a ride out in four Boston Police prisoner vans.
They fled before a phalanx of marchers who'd walked up from Roxbury could give them a piece of their minds.
Police kept the racists well separated from the crowds on the Common - they set up perimeters 200 to 300 feet around the bandstand.
Things were a bit closer in on Boylston Street near Tremont, where cops in heavy black armor cleared a path for the transport wagons to leave towards Tremont.
DPW trucks blocked every entrance into the Common - some supplemented by Jersey barriers.
A few Nazi sympathizers roamed the crowds of protesters. After one was uncovered people began booing him as he tried to flee. Somebody broke out a beach ball so people further away weren't sure at first if the crowd was reacting to an uncovered racist or the beach ball.
Compare the crowds: Racists at the bandstand vs. protesters on the surrounding hills:
.@universalhub Anti-Hate gathering at State House 11am pic.twitter.com/YibBId1IXt
— Craig Caplan (@CappyinBoston) August 19, 2017
Photo by Phil R.:
Fire and furry:
#notallbaldguys:
One of the Trumpkins who braved the crowd (photo by Ben Walsh)
No actual pugs were harmed in the making of this protest:
Both Vermin Supreme and Keytar Bear provided succor to the anti-fascists:
#BostonStrong #FuckNazis #FuckHate @universalhub pic.twitter.com/YS9auSaqH7
— TyrantII (@TyrantII) August 19, 2017
Due to Nazis, both the Frog Pond and the neighboring playground were shut, save for the occasional kid of protesting parents:
Shortly before 1:30, cops in armor marched onto the Common from Boylston Street and then back out onto Boylston to clear the way for the vans carrying the racists:
Boston sends #nazis and #whitesupremacists home in cop cars. #bostoncommon @universalhub never come back. pic.twitter.com/a8krF1yDk6
— Jonathan Berk (@berkie1) August 19, 2017
Things were briefly tense there as a self-described Libertarian wrapped in a "Don't Tread on Me" flag began arguing with a protester about the meaning of democracy, but his butt was saved when the Veterans for Peace marched in, chanting, "No violence! No violence!"
Among those awaiting the exit of the racists onto Boylston Street was Police Commissioner William Evans (photo by Sandy G.):
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Some Photos
Some photos I took here: http://imgur.com/a/ZNBBy
Favorites (right click, view new tab for larger):
Great rally against hate and ignorance. Not much to shoot but a bunch of Bostonians and visitors from all walks of life coming together to preach against hate and bigotry.
Proud of this city. #BostonStrong
Hurray for Keytar Bear!
Hurray for Keytar Bear! Hurray for Boston!
More photos
Cybah was there.
Genuine question...
Genuine question...
Didn't the thousands of protesters need a permit also?
I wasn't there but just wondering how all this works since I read the Free Speechers had one for 100 people even though i guess nobody really showed up.
Band Stand
They wanted the bandstand, And I heard their permit was so for sound equipment that they ended up not bringing / using.
What ended up happening is these 20 dodos were part of one group that got a permit and the others never bothered / no showed once they realized how massive the opposition would be post Charlottesville.
So small props for these folks for at least putting themselves.
Maybe they decided to stay
Maybe they decided to stay home and volunteer or do something productive to build up their own city, rather than being a nuissance in ours.
AFAiK you only need a permit
AFAiK you only need a permit if you plan to suck electricity from the common.
Amplified Sound
The permit was required for amplified sound. They were responsible for providing their own electricity.
How are you to say they are
How are you to say they are racist if they say nothing? The only nazi symbol I saw was a sign made by a counter protestor. The only violence I saw was counter protestors too.. can you explain this ?
We've been through this before
But here's a photo of "rally" organizer John Medlar wrapped in a racist flag at the last racist thing on the Common (if you scroll through his feed, you'll also find photos of him palling around with racist Kyle Chapman).
Looks
Looks like he's scrubbing his history to hide his racist nonsense as the MSM reached out for interviews.
Did anyone save it? Anyone got any more on this not very successful Nazi?
I'll just copy-paste from yesterday
What if the confederate apologists waving swastikas and beating black people are just here to play Ultimate Frisbee on the Common? Why should we believe them when they openly pronounce their own white supremacist views? I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt, despite them never having done a damned thing to deserve it. All this talk of "racism" is probably just an elaborate disinformation campaign by those mean leftists.
The Nazi salute I saw one of them give was a pretty big hint
That they're racist scum.
Concern troll much?
Concern troll is concerned. Ignore.
A nothing burger.
Like I said yesterday.
I'm glad you were right.
I'm glad you were right.
Replace "Nazis" with "Commies
Replace "Nazis" with "Commies" and it resembles a newsstory from 1947.
Great coverage
Well done, Adam and the Uhub photo corps
Warms my heart to see these scumbags get the proper reception on the Common. Makes me proud to be a Bostonian.
Question:
Why are these radical far leftist groups so disproportionately LGBTQ? Same BLM. Nothing wrong with being LGBTQ, but how can any observant person not notice ? And I get the impression when they list the alleged oppressed groups, that what they're really obsessed with is the LGBTQ angle, tagging on black, brown for street cred.
Yeah, and why so many Jews, huh?
Think for a moment about which groups have borne a disproportionate share of the hate on this planet over the past few years, decades, millennia. See if you can come up with an answer to your question then.
Why is it always the straight white people
"Think for a moment about which groups have borne a disproportionate share of the hate on this planet over the past few years, decades, millennia. See if you can come up with an answer to your question then."
As an LGBT man, I notice it is always the straight white people who have all the answers as to what LGBT people are thinking, and what their motives are. Well, I'm glad they have the answers, because I certainly don't.
Fine, I don't know what you personally think ...
I'm glad you're perfectly fitting into society and having a grand old time.
Speaking strictly as a Jew, I could tell you why Jews have long been involved in great numbers in civil-rights protests and the like, but you couldn't possibly understand what we've been through, so I won't bother.
The victim card
There are indeed some LGBT people like myself who, if not "perfectly fitting into society" as you facetiously put it, are at least not constantly playing the victim card which is such a popular thing to do these days. But my attitude does not fit into the mainstream gay agenda, so you don't hear about us as much.
And then there are those of us...
And then there are those of us who have a functional brain and understand that people like you will call it "playing the victim card" anytime someone points out oppression that is, y'know, still a thing, even if you got registered at Bed Bath & Beyond.
Victims are the new celebrities
I am a gay male in my 50s, somewhat on the effeminate side, who has faced oppression and bigotry my whole life. I have never failed to stand up against such oppression where I see it. Yet I have also done my level best to rise above such oppression and not consider myself a victim. Many of my LGBT brethren of my era did the same.This attitude has served us well. Then something strange happened and society has become a victim culture. Victims are the new celebrities. I see many of LGBT people reluctant to let go, or rise above, what Camille Paglia has referred to as "their precious victim status".
As an LGBTQ person myself, I second Adam's take
You don't have to be a dinosaur to be a paleontologist. Adam can make a brief observation & take about LGBTQ people without "speaking for all of us" or stealing our voice, for gods sake.
Per your question? I was marching with a few other bi & lesbian women, and a bunch of our straight friends, most of whom were also wearing rainbow bling. So, I don't know that all the marchers you assumed are LGBTQ actually were.
You're experiencing observer-expectancy effect
I was in the middle of the march and moved around (just to find shade ;-) and saw trans lgbt black hispanic older straight folks, younger straight folks, (a few wtf folks) missed the furry, but other that the incredible volume of people it would have been any group in Boston, looked just like the folks jammed in on the Esplanade on the 4th (well 3rd, I've only gone the day before).
Nonsense
You have no idea if "radical far leftist groups" as you call them, are "disproportionally LGBTQ". You see some rainbow flags and you panic .LGBTQ's are probably according to various studies, about 5-15% of Americans, and from what I saw, the number of people carrying rainbow flags or LGBTQ signs was probably less than 5-10% of the people I saw at the rally and march . Of course that doesnt count people who were not publically displaying their sexuality.
And what if you are correct? If LGBTQs were out in force yesterday, then I guess it just means they are on the right side of history.
I am a gay man who marched with my straight black friend. Neither of us had signs or flags. How did you count us in your alleged analysis?
Trump sent props to Walsh
Didn't expect that to happen
Days like this remind me of
Days like this remind me of all those horrible diseases we've eradicated through vaccination have fallen out of living memory. I haven't seen anyone with smallpox scars since the 80s. It's history textbook stuff. Now there's so few people with first hand experience, (oh so stupid) people feel skeptical about vaccines.
This rally wouldn't have happened 70 years ago. All the veterans of that war didn't just punch nazis. They fought the real thing with bombs and bullets and won. These chickenshits wouldn't dare throw a nazi salute in public with all those returned soldiers around with fresh memories of the battlefield.
Now those memories have faded into history, which doesn't seem to be taught anymore. Do these assholes even know that the nazis lost? The nazis are losers. The confederates are losers. Did they skip the last chapter in the textbook?
Do we need a new plague to remind people that vaccines are really cool? Do we need another holocaust to remind people that when you see a nazi, you declare war on them?
Southern racists fought the nazis
Southerners made up lots of combat troops in WW2 because they had experience shooting.
Experience shooting?
Um. Wow. That's way ignorant. I'd bet westerners could take them at the range any day.
Except it is totally irrelevant. They all got basic training.
People came from all over the US and there weren't as many Southerners as there would have been had CERTAIN Southerners not thrown massive and infantile hissy fits about OMG WE MIGHT HAVE TO SERVE WITH BLACK PEOPLE!!!
Uhub...
...needs a Love upvote. Thanks erik, ya nailed it again.
Beach ball, Nazi...
just punch it.
"All officers enroute to the Common bring their gas masks"
At 5:23 pm, the "peaceful protest that is long over" just resulted in a call for more cruisers to the Common from each district across the city, nine wagons from all over the city and a commander ordering all officers to wear their helmets and gas masks. The Area E (JP, HP, West Roxbury, Roslindale) wagon is now transporting four additional prisoners to C-11 in Dorchester because there is nowhere left to put them.
Commissioner Evans, although admitting officers were pelted with bottles of urine and rocks has a novel explanation, there were now three distinct groups, Free Speech, those opposed and "troublemakers" even though the "troublemakers" were part of those opposed to the free speech group. When asked for a comment on President Trump's praise today for BPD, Evans said, "I don't want to get political" as his political appointing authority, Mayor Walsh (D-Dorchester) looked on approvingly beside him.
UPDATE: An ambulance now at 5:36 pm for a person viciously sprayed with a chemical on Avenue de Lafayette.
He's pretty accurate
There were definitely a few tiny (young) groups there looking for trouble. A few were masked from the beginning of the march. Vast number of regular folks calm, polite and patient.
Numbers
3/20 Nazis were arrested, or 15%
30/40,000 anti-facists or 0.075%
Photos
A few more images in my Flickr album
Police commissioner on the day
A different view, starting in Roxbury
Chris Faraone at the Dig reports.
Dan Kennedy also walked in from Roxbury.
Sad Nazis are sad
Apparently the 101st keyboard Nazis are posting images from years ago trying to claim they're from the rally today.
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/899035275095146496
It's pretty funny the pathetic length they'll go to insulate their safe spaces.
And then there's this
Guys, at least try to match the photos to the weather, would ya?
Strange thing is ...
Antifa doesn't identify as leftist or of the left - they are anarchists. They have a lot more in common with the "I don't have to license my car" people.
Expecting "the left" to control them is kind of like me expecting to train my cat to herd sheep: theoretically possible, maybe, but not bloody likely.
Now if our government were taken over by anarchist radicals who were swept in on a DNC platform, it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect.
Search Boston antifa on
Search Boston antifa on youtube for some good laughs...
"Boston antifa" is a right wing group
So-called "Boston antifa" is the creation of two right-wing activists seeking to discredit antifa.
So you're disavowing Anti-fa?
Lulz... You can't do that.
Vancouver
Nazis didn't do so well there, either.
I wonder how many were arrested in the 2010 Hockey Riots?
It would be interesting to see if there are any correlations.
Confusing
Why would you wear a 'Trump is my President' to a protest in Canada?
Who kept the media from the bandstand?
A TV reporter I saw said they were not allowed near the bandstand, but not why.
Whose decision was it that the media not capture the Free Speech going on?
Police? Free Speech organizers and speakers? (who also didn't seem to have a PA System)
What is this "free speech" you talk of
In any case, you might want to ask Medlar why he couldn't figure out how to buy a stupid PA system.
I will suspect the police barred the media from the racists. Don't know because I didn't try to run the gauntlet myself.
Sources
I've seen reports that BPD barred the media from the bandstand space from Dan Kennedy, Chris Faraone and WBZ reporter. I'd sy that it's a pretty big deal that no media coverage of speakers was allowed.
Dan Kennedy just posted about it.
Free speech took a back seat to public safety at Saturday’s demonstrations
https://dankennedy.net/2017/08/20/free-speech-took-a-back-seat-to-public...
And in the Globe...
Quote from Chief Evans stating police wanted the speakers to not be heard, outrage from Harvey Silverglate and others, mention that the ACLU had sued Charlottesville on behalf of marchers but yesterday in Boston local ACLU members participated in the counterprotest.
Some fun facts for the outraged
This morning, WBUR reported
This morning, WBUR reported that Kedlar was only able to crowdsource $9.00 for a PA. Sooooo....
What was said on the bandstand
Shiva Ayyadurai used a bull horn. Police set up a huge buffer zone so nobody could hear in the crowd and also kept out members of the media from the bandstand area.
Protest Duck and more photos
Photo by Turlach MacDonagh:
Photo by Photographynatalia:
Photo by John McLachlan:
Photo by Stevil:
Kevin McCrea marched from the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury to the Common:
Bandannas
I don't get the point of people marching with bandannas on their faces. Do they really think the 20 sad losers who showed up on the bandstand are gonna come after them? Do they have to hide from their jobs, spouses, families for standing up for human rights? I guess it makes the white suburbanite marchers feel like real social justice outlaws or something. Political theater at it's worst.
From a friend who was at the
From a friend who was at the protests: There were unidentified people, not counterprotestors or press, walking around and taking clear and up close photos of people's faces. Just faces - not snapshots of the day but seeking to get identifiable photos of anyone there against the nazis. Considering the kind of doxxing and harrassment we've seen from the alt-right, she felt safer putting on her bandana.
MAGA man arrested on gun charges
The Dig reports on an incident on Boylston Street involving a guy wearing a bulletproof vest, a MAGA hat and a gun who got into an argument with a counter protester.
Great pics!
Adam, I hope you don't mind but I used your photo of Gadsden flag guy in my twitter feed. I didn't tag you directly because if I get swarmed by nazis again, I don't want you to get caught in the sh**storm.
Creepy
That wolf guy is creepy. What point is he trying to make?
Didn't you know?
The Cosplay Picnic had a permit for the Common long before the Loser Fascist Cosplay Event was announced.