Beverly Mayor Won't March In July 4th Parade

BEVERLY, MA -- Mayor Michael Cahill doesn't plan to walk in next week's Beverly Farms Horribles Parade, which has included an increasing amount of controversial content in recent years. Following last year's parade, which included a sign with a thinly-veiled slur against woman, Cahill was forced to offer a public apology. Cahill told the Salem News, which first reported this story, that he plans to watch the parade and hopes the satire the July 4th parade is known for doesn't cross the line into being "destructive."

The newspaper reported that the 2016 float that spoofed the Black Lives Matter movement with a Gorilla Lives matter theme and a float that mocked a child killed by an alligator at Disney World have also drawn criticism. But an attorney for the group told the newspaper there are no plans by parade organizers to back down.

"They've been doing this for years, it's a horribles parade," Tom Fallon said. "That's a tradition throughout this country, they're going to continue to do that."

For more on this story, see the Salem News. Subscribe to Beverly Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo.