Wellesley community rallies in Boston

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By Rama K. Ramaswamy

Members of the Wellesley community were present at last weekend’s counter-demonstrations in Boston.

Among the many groups attending were Wellesley community members from World Of Wellesley (WOW), including President Michelle Chalmers, high school students from Wellesley High School and the Dana Hall School. Grant Hightower, METCO coordinator for WHS and teacher of the “Diverse American Voices class” was also in attendance. According to Chalmers, “being part of the Fight Supremacy March organized by women of color was very important to me. To use my body and voice to fight supremacy is one thing I can do. Racism, anti-Semitism, and all forms of hate should never be accepted as part of this American democracy.”

According to the "Second Boston Free Speech Rally" flyers and Facebook page, the demonstration was scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 19. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh made it clear earlier in the week that any hate groups planning to attend should stay home, that law enforcement would have a "zero tolerance" policy, and that authorities would shut the rally down if it got out of hand.

There were 14 scheduled speakers, including U.S. Senate candidate Shiva Ayyadurai, congressional candidate Samson Racioppi, former Infowars writer Joe Biggs and activist Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman. Vice co-founder and "Proud Boys" leader Gavin McInnes, and right-wing activists Tim Gionet (aka "Baked Alaska"), and Cassandra Fairbanks and Augustus Invictus, who bowed out the week before the rally. The speeches lasted approximately 45 minutes in length in total from within the Boston Common bandstand.

According to Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans, there were approximately 500 police officers on site. "I’m real proud of the people, the way they came and stood up against hatred and bigotry,” he said. “More proud of my officers.”

An estimated 40,000 people attended the counter-protest planned for this rally and despite a few arrests (approximately 33), Evans felt the event was “fairly peaceful” and there were no acts of vandalism or major injuries. By 3:30 p.m., the crowd began to dissipate, but shortly after 5 p.m., police used pepper spray on Washington Street in Downtown Crossing to quell chaos between officers and some counter-protesters which also cleared up by 5:45 p.m.. Evans said “most people were well-behaved” and that "99.9 percent of people here were here for the right reason, and that was to fight hate and bigotry.”

“Boston stood for peace and love Saturday,” said Marty Walsh, referring to the turnout of people marching from the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College (RCC) towards Boston Common. "I was at RCC early and you could feel a sense of pride being there.”

On Sunday, August 27, from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at Warren Park Playground (90 Washington Street, Wellesley), World Of Wellesley will host a “Celebrate Community in Wellesley” event. This event is intended to bring the community together for fun. All Boston and Wellesley families are welcome to meet new friends and have some food and fun. The World of Wellesley will provide all the food (sandwiches, fruit and drinks) – attendees are asked to bring a family blanket and/or chairs.
To RSVP for the event, email [email protected] or (781-591-9435, text or call). For Facebook, visit http://goo.gl/A3eXtg.