14 Jewish Protesters Arrested Outside Boston Republican HQ

BOSTON, MA — A group of dozens of Jewish protesters stood in a circle outside of the state headquarters of the Massachusetts Republican Party in Boston Friday. They took over the lobby singing and saying prayers and then about 14 of them were arrested after a state Republican official attempted to get into the building but had his path blocked.

In response, the local Republican State committeeman called the protest "inexcusable" and said the protesters were "living in a world of make-believe."

The protest, by a group called IfNotNow in Boston, was part of a campaign of protests happening across the state in which activists planned "to mourn the 13 lives lost to white nationalist terrorism this week and demand that Trump and the GOP denounce white nationalism and antisemitism," according to a post on Facebook that referenced the massacre at a Jewish Synagogue in Pittsburgh last weekend.

The protest had the GOP headquarters on lockdown for at least an hour, according to reports.

Tom Mountain, a committeeman and vice chair of the state's unofficial GOP Jewish Committee, said he was one of a number of people who tried to enter the office, but couldn't.

Mountain told Patch he was visiting the office to pick up supplies when he came across the protesters.

"I was really stunned," said Mountain, who represents Republicans in Newton, Wellesley and Brookline. "I was offended on several levels. They're trying to denigrate and really harangue the Massachusetts Republican Party."

Mountain, who is one of two Jewish people on the Republican State Committee, said the protesters went too far, breaking into the lobby of the building.

"They are a part of the divisive trend in this country is really trying to pin this massacre on Republicans and Donald Trump by trying to make some strange connection to White Nationalism. They're living in a world of make-believe."

Mountain said police advised him to go around to the back entrance to get in, but he refused.

"They were there to prevent entry into the building. I was not going to be shuffled over to the janitor's entrance in the rear," he said.

That prompted police to tell the protesters to move a number of times. When they didn't, police started arresting them, filling two police vans, he said, as protesters sang and recited Jewish prayers.

"I have absolutely no sympathy for them," said Mountain. "These people are unhinged. It was bad. It was inexcusable."

Mountain went a bit further and told reporters on the scene they were “a disgrace to the Jewish people” and “an embarrassment to this country.”Read that story here.

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff