Mayor Defends Somerville Police Presence At Straight Pride Parade

SOMERVILLE, MA — Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone defended his officers' presence at the Straight Pride Parade in Boston over the weekend, while slamming the event itself as "nationalist." Curtatone fielded criticism from some Twitter users, who questioned why Somerville police officers were assisting the Boston Police Department at the event.

The mayor said his officers were there as part of a Cops On Bikes For Regional Assistance mutual aid unit. He added that his officers did not use pepper spray or make any arrests.

"Multiple cities have these units & they work big events like the fireworks & marathon in Boston. Other cities send their units to us when we have large events," Curtatone tweeted. "They are trained in de-escalation & they are there to protect everyone at these types of events."

Curtatone encouraged anyone who has a complaint about an officer to come forward to the Somerville Police Department. He said he was working to respond to criticism individually because "people have legitimate concerns about a nationalist rally."

Boson police arrested 36 people at Saturday's Straight Pride Parade, and reported that four police officers were injured during the event. As of Sunday morning, officials had not released a final tally for the estimated number of people that attended the event, which started at noon and ended at 4 p.m. It's also not clear how many of the people arrested were protesters and how many were participants in the event.

A group calling itself Super Happy Fun America organized the parade, which ended at Boston City Hall with speeches and the raising of the 'Straight' flag. Organizer John Hugo had said he expected at least 2,000 people to take part, but fewer than 300 marchers eventually gathered in a cordoned-off area for the City Hall rally. Speakers, including Super Happy Fun America's vice president Mark Sahady, told the crowd the organization put on the event to fight for the rights of an "oppressed majority."

The parade and its months-long fight for a permit drew national attention. On Saturday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continued her criticism of the event. In a Twitter post, she noted that the event had drawn few women and called it the "I-Struggle-With-Masculinity" parade. In another post, she asked supporters to donate money for bail for protesters who were arrested.

Dave Copeland (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.