About 100 people associated with the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group, marched downtown Boston on Saturday carrying police shields and flags with the group’s emblem.
Leading the news: Police received a call around 12:30 p.m. as a group of protesters marched through the city, although their route was unknown, CNN reported.
- Many of the protesters wore dark khaki pants and polo shirts, with fabric covers on the underside, along with sunglasses and caps.
Game status: The group approached a rental truck parked near the Haymarket subway stop and unloaded shields and several different flags, according to the Boston Herald.
- Among them were American flags, some waving upside down and others showing only the 13 stars of the original U.S. colonies. Other flags showed versions of the symbol used by Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, according to the Herald.
- Patriot Front flags have also been flown, according to CNN.
- Boston police received a report around 1:25 p.m. of a black man who was injured in a clash with Patriot Front protesters.
- The man told police he had been pushed, thrown to the ground and assaulted by members of the group, suffering several lacerations. He was later taken to Tufts Medical Center, the Herald reported.
- Around 1:30 p.m., the group left the site via the subway system after packing their materials into a rental truck, according to the Herald.
The big picture: City Hall President Ed Flynn wrote Saturday in a letter that members of neo-Nazi groups “have continued to publicize their presence” in Boston in recent months.
- In February, they addressed doctors working to address racial disparities in health care at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and appeared at the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in March, Flynn wrote.
- In June, 31 members of the Patriot Front were arrested in Idaho after being caught planning to mutiny in an LGBTQ pride event.
What to see: The Boston Police Department is conducting a civil rights investigation into the incident and no arrests have yet been made, according to the Herald.
What they are saying: “The disgusting hatred of white supremacists has no place here. [Especially] when so many of our rights are under attack, we will not normalize fan intimidation, ”Boston Mayor Michelle Wu tweeted Saturday.
- “It’s totally disgusting to re-read reports and watch videos on social media about dozens of neo-Nazis doing another brazen public display with their hateful ideology,” Flynn wrote in his letter.