A group wearing masks and hats emblazoned with “131,” a symbol of the group’s New England-based nationalist social club, demonstrated in front of the Loring Greenough House on the Jamaican Plain around noon Saturday.
The venue was hosting a drag queen story hour for children and families at the time of the group’s arrival, according to Mayor Michelle Wu’s office and on-site witnesses.
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“fart scum off our streets,” the group could be heard singing in videos shared on social media from the scene. the same message was found on a banner held by group members.
Three people were arrested and booked at noon on disturbing the peace and other charges, according to a spokeswoman for the boston police department. bpd’s civil rights unit is investigating attacks against members of the lgbtq community.
Those arrested are Tobias Walker, 21, of Boston, charged with disorderly conduct; Seth Rosenau of Boston, charged with affray and breach of the peace; and Christopher Hood, 23, of Pepperell, charged with fracas and disorderly conduct.
only hood was a member of nsc 131, and has been widely cited as the leader of the group that the anti-defamation league has called a neo-nazi group.
walker and rosenau were counter-protesters, numbering between 30 and 35, according to boston police.
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Boston leaders, including Wu and Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden, condemned the group’s presence in the city.
“It is clear that Boston is a starting point in the hate crusade launched five years ago in Charlottesville,” Hayden said in a statement.
“the presence of white supremacists at a simple book reading in jamaica today, like their march in downtown boston earlier this month, is both a shame and a warning. society everywhere is targeted by these groups, and society everywhere must reject them,” he added.
wu said, “it’s no coincidence that these cowardly groups from outside our city continue to target boston as we show how representative leadership, empowered communities and bold policies can have immediate impact.”
“we stand ready and will not be intimidated in our work to make boston a city for all. we remain ready for the deployment of additional public safety resources throughout the city with a zero-tolerance approach to any group seeking to intimidate or harass our city residents,” she added.
the event above hayden references is when about 100 members of the group’s patriotic front rolled into town on july 2nd at the t, unloaded shields and flags from a truck parked near the haymarket mbta station around 12:30 p.m. and marched through the city.
They paraded through the city carrying flags that often featured a stylized symbol of fascism, which has been associated with fascism ever since Benito Mussolini adopted it as the symbol of his national fascist party in Italy. A black man, later identified as Charles Murrell, 34, a local artist and activist, was injured at the hands of members of the group.
after the nsc protesters left, neighborhood resident courtney ignace, 26, held a small rally of her own with some friends outside loring greenough house.
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He was holding a sign that read “queer is good,” which got the thumbs up from drivers and passers-by.
“When it happens in your community, you have to pay attention,” he said. “I know there is a movement in our country, and they are wrong.”
Ignace’s roommate, Nicole Amidon, 29, called them “a bunch of trolls trying to make people feel insecure.”
“The anger got me today,” Amidon said. “They feel emboldened by trump, so we have to organize against them. … Something about him made these people feel safe in hating him.”
steven walker, “just an old man from dorchester”, passing by, said it was “very disturbing that this is happening here in boston”.
“what they say has nothing to do with the truth or the facts,” walker said. “what about all the priests who sexually abused children?”
The Nationalist Social Club has held widely condemned demonstrations in the city, including unfurling a banner reading “Keep Boston Irish” on St. patrick’s day parade In May of last year, they gathered at the New England Holocaust Memorial across from City Hall Square.
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