by V. Chay
On Saturday, November 16, a Christian-Right forced-birth group, the Men’s March, staged a rally and march along Commonwealth Avenue in Boston from Planned Parenthood to Boston Common. Flyers encouraged participants to adopt a dress code of suits or clerical uniform. This group includes known members of far-right coalitions.
In response, a network of local groups and activists planned a Pro-Choice, Pro-Women’s Rights counter-march, and asked the NLG to send Legal Observers, which we did, providing 10 LOs. A few hundred people showed up to counter protest, outnumbering the 150 or so men and handful of women at the Men’s March.
The Men’s March was intercepted on Commonwealth Avenue by a literal circus: a marching band of hundreds of leftist clowns in full costume – red noses and make-up, with jugglers, hula-hoopers, and musicians. The circus band performed “Darth Vader’s Imperial March” which then morphed into “Pop Goes the Weasel,” and other circus melodies, drowning out the somber Men’s March’s bagpipe and drum.
The Men’s March, unwillingly escorted by the marching clowns, halted just before Kenmore Square, where hundreds of counter-protesters were massed. There was a heavy police presence – State and BPD, some in standard uniforms, some in riot gear with wooden batons, some on bicycles or horses. There were almost as many cops as Men’s Marchers.
Their march was stalled for approximately an hour. The police formed a protective barrier around the Men’s March while the counter-protesters led chants of “‘Pro-Life’ That’s a lie, you don’t care when people die” and “Shame!” The organizers of the Men’s March became visibly frustrated with the delay, and were heard asking officers why they were not able to proceed, demanding more forceful action.
The police then used their bicycles as rams and pushed through the crowd of counter-protestors, crashing and knocking down several people. Any counter-protestor who fell to the ground was pounced on by multiple (4-7) police officers. The police subdued and handcuffed them. Witnesses reported that one of the first people arrested yelled they could not breathe, and was yelling in pain while being placed in the transport wagon.
Some questioned why, with such an overwhelming police presence, the police used extremely forceful tactics to clear a path directly through the thong of counter-protesters, rather than diverting the Men’s March around the crowd, as they did efficiently during other points of the march.
The police made 17 arrests, all counter-protestors. NLG Mass Defense Committee members were involved in getting people out of jail, and now MDC is preparing for their court appearances.
For most of the march, Boston cops, mostly men in riot gear, marched alongside the Men’s March— whose stated purpose is to strip women and others of their human right to control their own bodies. One member of the Men’s March noticed this and happily commented “They got the Boston Police joining our march now.”
