Mass., Boston Brace For 'Free Speech Rally' After Charlottesville Violence

BOSTON, MA — A planned demonstration on the Boston Common this weekend is under new scrutiny in the wake of Saturday's attack on counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The "Second Boston Free Speech Rally," slated for Aug. 19, has already received strong condemnation from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and city officials have been called upon to develop a safety plan in the event of violence.

Organizers have not yet pulled permits for the rally, but Walsh had a blunt message at a press conference Monday for any hate groups planning to attend: Stay home. "Boston does not welcome you here. Boston does not want you here. Boston rejects your message," he said.

Walsh also criticized President Trump for his initial suggestion that there were "many sides" to the weekend's violence. "We heard the rhetoric at those campaign rallies," Walsh said. "We heard the silence this weekend. Don't hand hatred a megaphone and pretend you can't hear it."

"Hahahaha love this." One Massachusetts police officer is accused of mocking the Charlottesville tragedy.

The organizers behind the rally on the Common have vehemently denied any association with the "Unite the Right" group at the center of the violence in Charlottesville. In a statement on Facebook, the group wrote that any connection between it and the Charlottesville organizers was a "lie and blatant defamation by [former Hillary Clinton spokesman] Brian Fallon on twitter."

"We are not in any way associated with the organizers of the Charlottesville rally," the statement read. "There has been threats made against our lives already and we will be contacting Boston PD."

Fallon has said that the same group is behind both demonstrations.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said large crowds are expected at Saturday's demonstration, and local and state police will have a uniformed presence there. If a permit is issued, police will ensure the demonstrators abide by the parameters of the permit and work with any potential counter-protesters as they approach the Common, Evans added.

As with any major demonstration, police "will not tolerate any acts of violence, misbehavior or vandalism whatsoever," Evans said.

"Any violence that erupts in the Boston Common or on the busy city streets would directly affect the heart of the city, including the downtown residential and commercial core," the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, the Anti-Defamation League, the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers and other groups wrote in a joint letter to Walsh on Monday.

Concerns over safety at the Common this weekend come on the heels of violence in Charlottesville, where white nationalists marched to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Three people were killed in events related to the "Unite the Right" rally, including a counter-protester and two Virginia State Police troopers.

Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, has been charged with plowing into a group of people with his car, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others.

A few hours later, a state police helicopter that had been helping monitor Saturday's events crashed in a wooded area, killing both troopers who were aboard the chopper. They were identified as Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen, 48, of Midlothian, Virginia, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates of Quinton, Virginia. Both troopers died at the scene.

Boston City Hall will light up blue and orange Monday night as a show of solidarity with Charlottesville, where the University of Virginia is located. A condolence book is also available at City Hall for residents to sign, which the mayor will send to Charlottesville.

Image via City of Boston