Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Boston to protest against a “Free Speech” rally featuring right-wing speakers, a week after a woman was killed at a white supremacist demonstration in Virginia.
Key points:
- Protesters opposed to the “Free Speech” rally outnumbered rally participants
- Police used barricades to prevent vehicles from entering the area
- Similar anti-racism protests are expected in Houston and Dallas
Organisers of the rally had invited several far-right speakers who were confined to a small pen that police set up in the historic Boston Common park to keep the two sides separate.
The city largely avoided a repeat of last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, where one woman was killed in a car rampage after bloody street battles.
The Boston rally never numbered more than a few dozen people, and its speakers could not be heard over the shouts of an estimated 40,000 counterprotesters.
Protesters surrounded people leaving the rally, shouting “shame” at them and occasionally throwing plastic water bottles.
Police escorted several rally participants through the crowds, sometimes struggling against protesters who tried to stop them.
Some 500 police officers placed barricades to prevent vehicles from entering the park.
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