A week after violent protests rocked Charlottesville, Va., Boston police are implementing a tight security plan on Saturday as a “free speech” rally with right-wing speakers is expected to converge with a large counter-protest on the city’s historic Common.
“If anything gets out of hand, we will shut it down,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said at a news conference Friday. “We’re going to respect their right to free speech. In return, they must respect our city.”
The deployment of 500 police officers, extra security cameras and barriers separating the opposing rallies are among the steps the city is taking to avoid a repeat of last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville.
The city also banned participants from carrying weapons, sticks or flagpoles.
“There will be zero tolerance for any violence,” Police Chief William Evans said at Friday’s briefing with the mayor.
Walsh urged people to stay away from the Boston Common, the nation’s oldest park, where a group called “Boston Free Speech” will be holding its rally at noon Saturday.
Among those expected to speak are Kyle Chapman, a San Francisco Bay Area resident who has developed an online following using the moniker “Based Stickman.” Chapman, who carries a stick and shield during protests and wears a motorcycle helmet, was arrested after he clashed with protesters in Berkeley earlier this year.
Coinciding with the Boston rally is a counter-protest, called “Fight White Supremacy,” in which participants will march from Roxbury, a historically black neighborhood in Boston, to the Common.
In a preview to Saturday’s events, a candlelight vigil was held Friday evening in Boston at the New England Holocaust Memorial. Participants lighted candles decorated with photographs of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville. A driver, whom police identified as a man with neo-Nazi sympathies, drove a car through a crowd of activists, striking Heyer and leaving 19 others hospitalized.
Demonstrations to show solidarity with the city of Charlottesville are planned for Saturday in cities across the country, including New Orleans and Dallas. Authorities in both cities said they will deploy extra officers to maintain security.
This will be an interesting situation for sure. I do like the bolded quote from the mayor though -- that's the right position for anyone to be taking. ---