Hub NAACP head frets for public’s safety
Boston NAACP President Tanisha Sullivan joined Boston Herald Radio’s “The Rundown” program yesterday to discuss the response to a controversial Free Speech Rally that is being planned for the Common this weekend.
Q: If you could, can you speak to some of the counter-protests that we are expecting to see and some of the counter-demonstrators that include pieces of the Black Lives Matter network, which aren’t necessarily connected with you guys?
A: My understanding is that there are actually a number of other marches and protests that are being planned for Saturday to really stand as resistance to the message of hate and racism and white supremacy that we anticipate coming from the free speech rally ... I know that one of the larger events is being actually led by the Violence In Boston Organization by Monica Cannon and with support from the Black Lives Matter Cambridge and the Black Lives Matter Boston. There are other organizations and people who plan to gather on Saturday as well ... public safety has to be squarely at the center of whatever happens in the city on Saturday ... it is very likely that there will be people coming into contact with one another and so it’s going to be really important for us to understand how the Boston Police Department intends to keep the peace while certainly respecting the rights of people to gather and assemble.
Q: You’ve mentioned public safety at the forefront of all of this, and what we’ve seen is not only these violent white supremacists coming heavily armed, but there’s been other groups as well that have been involved in some of these instances. Are you concerned about those kinds of groups sort of injecting themselves into a volatile situation?
A: Yes. I am. I think that we have to be vigilant and we cannot take for granted that people are going to adhere to a call not to attempt to come into the city armed ... unfortunately we are starting to transition from speech to violence when it comes to some of these extremist views, and as we turn this corner unfortunately we have to be mindful that there are people whose intention is to cause harm ... the reality is that a public safety plan is needed for Saturday, but we’ve also been talking a need for a very strong public safety plan just generally speaking just as it relates to the city of Boston ... the reality is that we have had an uptick in violence in the city of Boston this summer and the number of murders that we witness, the amount of violence that we’ve seen absent other people coming into our community is something that we have to deal with internally.