Hundreds Protest Ahead Of Flake Visit At Boston City Hall Plaza

BOSTON, MA — Hundreds of protesters gathered on City Hall Plaza as the Forbes 30 Under 30 event, where Sen. Jeff Flake was set to speak Monday, was getting underway just feet away, also on the plaza. The rally-goers came holding signs and the hope of getting Flake a message: "Reject [the] Kavanaugh nomination" to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Boston University graduate who recently won a Democratic primary victory over a powerful incumbent in New York, took the mic to thunderous applause. She called sexual assault an “abuse of power” and one of the most “serious, serious” allegations a public servant can face.

The plaza was filled with a sea of faces, including Lindsay Crudele, who held up a sign that said " Senator Flake Look us in the eye." Crudele said she was one of the original instigators of the protest who decided to do something after hearing he'd be in town.

"I realized we needed to give him a real Boston welcome," she told Patch after the rally.

She said she created one of the (multiple) Facebook invites to give voice to the types of people Flake said he'd never heard of before Friday: Survivors of sexual violence. Crudele said she didn't understand with 1 in 3 women reported to be victims of sexual violence how he could never hear of this before or have a personal connection to such stories.

"We thought it was important he hear it from us, together," she told Patch.

That invitation, a general call to action, quickly took off beyond just her friend group. Another invite popped up co-hosted by the groups from Planned Parenthood to Emerson College students in an official partnership with the City of Boston and various nonprofits.

The rally that had elected officials and Emerson College co-organizers taking the mic to ask Senator Flake to reject Kavanaugh’s nomination, and to tell all senators that "a vote to confirm Kavanaugh is a vote to betray women and sexual assault survivors," according to the second Facebook invite.

Nearly 4,000 others indicated they were interested in attending. Hundreds made it. City Councilor and soon to be Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley took the mic, thanked the women who confronted Flake in the elevator last week, and said Kavanaugh was not entitled to a lifetime appointment.

"I'm outraged," she said "Because this is outrageous."

Katherine Bergeron of Boston who was also in the crowd agreed.

"I mean, if anyone else walked into a job interview and said 'I love beer, and by the way there's this massive conspiracy against me and everyone else is lying' I wouldn't hire them as a cat sitter," she said.

But Bergeron (who actually owns a cat-sitting business) said it was seeing how Flake appeared to be influenced by the personal confrontation of the two women in the elevator that Pressley referenced that pushed her out the door and into City Hall Plaza to protest.

"A lot of times the only way to get through to someone is really by confrontation," she said.

Flake’s appearance was already moved from an Emerson College venue after officials said they worried about safety concerns.

The Arizona Republican is at center stage after he swayed the Senate to hold off Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court until an FBI investigation is conducted. That move came after two women who said they were victims of sexual assault confronted the senator near an elevator ahead of the vote.

Flake addressed attendees at the Forbes 30 Under 30 event. He told them he found Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's testimony credible and didn't like Kavanaugh's tone or partisan references.

Flake said he was giving the judge some leeway because of what the seriousness of the accusation. Protesters chanted loud in response.

Mayor Marty Walsh, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, Gubanatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were among the speakers at the protest:

After the rally Ayanna Pressley and Jay Gonzales spoke to reporters:

Read more about his visit here: Jeff Flake Coming To Boston Monday

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Photos by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff