White supremacist rally ends early in Boston as counter-protesters show up in huge numbers
A few dozen attendees showed up for Saturday's planned "free speech" rally in Boston. But counter-protesters showed up in the thousands.
Per local news reports, over 10,000 people gathered at Boston Commons to protest the right-wing gathering, which quickly fell apart after it became clear the planned speaking schedule would not come to fruition.
In fact, police were seen taking down rally flags and decor before 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. (The rally was scheduled for 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.) Whoops!
SEE ALSO: How you can take action against white supremacy after Charlottesville
At around the same time, Twitter was flooded with images from the counter-protest. In one clip, crowds can be heard chanting "Not in Boston" — a reference to last week's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Democracy in action.
Counter protesters with #FightSupremacy groups gather on MLK Blvd in #Roxbury before heading to the #BostonCommon. #counterprotest #WCVB pic.twitter.com/qKO9WoCa95
— Sangita Chandra (@sangichandra) August 19, 2017
"These fascists picked the wrong town to come to. We're gonna show them what #Boston thinks about white supremacy." #BostonFreeSpeech pic.twitter.com/v7Bdii9jLH
— Jessica Weiss (@jessweiss1) August 19, 2017
Witches and drag queens are protesting the right-wingers in Boston pic.twitter.com/3750UwKAqB
— Blake Montgomery (@blakersdozen) August 19, 2017
#bostonresist pic.twitter.com/MBAds0uFOc
— James S. Murphy (@James_S_Murphy) August 19, 2017
NO PLACE FOR NAZIS. Tens of thousands united to #FightSupremacy, racism, and Nazis. Only seen a handful of white supremacists#BostonResist pic.twitter.com/c1CQpUCGls
— Adam Greenberg (@pragmactivist) August 19, 2017
Boston turned OUT to fight the Klan this morning #BostonResist #FreedomSide pic.twitter.com/g2yctOTZmS
— Sejal Singh (@Sej_Singh) August 19, 2017
There are THOUSANDS of people here- young and old- and the March hasn't even started yet. This is democracy at its finest. #BostonResist pic.twitter.com/HcLsA829Zf
— Raya Sampson 🎈🎉🎈 (@RayaSampson) August 19, 2017
Few "free speech" demonstrators confined to bandstand on Boston Common. Hundreds of anti-racism protestors surrounding them behind barriers pic.twitter.com/KdZ03KQ3RQ
— Aleem Maqbool (@AleemMaqbool) August 19, 2017
This is what resistance looks like! #fightsupremacy #bostonresist pic.twitter.com/P8PepTbk01
— Tito Jackson (@titojackson) August 19, 2017
If you squint really hard, you can see the incredible white supremacist turnout! #BostonResist #BostonFreeSpeech pic.twitter.com/UeTOmVX7wa
— Faine Greenwood (@faineg) August 19, 2017
There must be tens of thousands in #Boston heading toward #BostonCommon for #BostonResist already. And it's only 11am. pic.twitter.com/xL2C6MdfsV
— Ernie Chiara (@erniechiara) August 19, 2017