White supremacist rally fizzles, overtaken by massive anti-racism march

[deminks]

https://thinkprogress.org/white-supremacist-rally-fizzles-overtaken-by-massive-anti-racism-march-c9ff732a188f/

Organizers of a self-described “free speech” rally in Boston Saturday were expecting to see a big turnout, with attendees from the same white supremacist groups that marched on Charlottesville last weekend. Massachusetts members of the Ku Klux Klan had announced their plans to participate.

But turnout on the white supremacist side was incredibly small. They were outnumbered, by the thousands, by counter-protestors, who flooded Boston Commons and the surrounding streets to rally against neo-Nazis, the KKK, and racist violence.

The “free speech” rally was, by all measures, a resounding failure. According to the Washington Post, “By 1 p.m., the handful of rally attendees had left the Boston Common pavillion, concluding their event without the planned speeches. A victorious cheer went up among the counter-protesters, as many began to leave. Hundreds of others danced in circles and sang, ‘Hey hey, ho ho. White supremacy has got to go.’”

A number of “physical altercations between police and counter-protestors” and “skirmishes” between neo-Nazis and counter-protestors have been reported from the scene, where tensions are high. But so far, it does not appear that Boston’s rallies have experiened violence on the scale of what plagued Charlottesville last weekend. (Protestors were escorted in and out of the Commons by Boston police, Buzzfeed reported.)

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Link to tweet

[tymorial]

1. The words Massachusetts members of the KKK struck me.

They struck me not because I'm blind to the fact that racism exists here in Massachusetts but because Massachusetts/New England/North East does not immediately come to mind when one thinks of the KKK. It is a reminder that while isolated racists and bigots will likely always exist, organized hatred is too (also) close to home. We may not have state sponsored and sanctioned statues of confederate generals and slave holders here in New England. We do it seems have those near who cherish them from afar.

[underpants]

2. They are going for the starkest contrast

Berkeley
Charlottesville
Boston

[DemocraticSocialist8]

3. I think the right-wingers are a little shook after Charlottesville

and everybody calling them domestic terrorists lol.