Protesters clash; police enter fray in Boston
A loud counterprotest against conservatives and President Trump devolved into skirmishes with police who handcuffed and removed multiple people from the rancorous scene in Copley Square on Sunday.
The tense clash was sparked by dueling rallies along Dartmouth Street — with about 50 supporters of Super Happy Fun America delivering a series of pro-Trump and antiDemocrat speeches on the sidewalk in front of Boston Public Library, and counterprotesters, who numbered about 150, across the street trying to drown them out with chants and drums.
After counterprotesters moved barricades set by police between the two sides, at least two counterprotesters were removed from the scene in handcuffs following altercations with officers. Pepper spray was also used amid the chaos, although it was not clear who sprayed it.
“This is a peaceful protest against Democrat violence, and they’re proving our point,” said Samson Racioppi of Super Happy Fun America, the pro-Trump side, which organized Sunday’s protest and previously held the Straight Pride Parade.
“The violence is across the street,” Racioppi added, saying the counterprotesters attacked police.
Republican Congressional candidate Rayla Campbell, who is running a write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, was on crutches as she joined the Super Happy Fun America group. Campbell spoke about how she was assaulted at a New Bedford event last week and railed against “the radical left” and “antifa” at Sunday’s rally.
“I stand up, and I fight back,” Campbell said. “I will always stand up for American values and the American way.”
She added that a “red wave” is coming on Nov. 3, and that Trump will get four more years in the White House.
On the other side, counterprotesters hammered on drums and loudly chanted “Fascists are not welcome here,” “Go home racists,” and “Black lives matter.”
They burned a cardboard effigy of Trump and held signs that read “Vote Trump out.”
“I think the people across the street are one step away from the people who murdered Heather Heyer in Charlottesville,” said Stan Lawrence, of Refuse Fascism. “So it’s important to be out here. It’s important for people around the city and around the state and around the country to see that there’s opposition to these kinds of rallies.”
“The Trump/Pence regime is a fascist regime that needs to be driven from power,” he added.
After the Super Happy Fun America group left Copley Square to boos and heckling, many counterprotesters remained and took to the steps of Boston Public Library.
Holding Black Lives Matter signs, they chanted, “No good cops in a racist system” and “Whose streets? Our streets!”