White Supremacist Fliers Prompt Rally In East Boston

EAST BOSTON, MA — Dozens of people gathered Saturday afternoon outside of the Maverick T stop in Eastie, some with signs reading "No human is illegal," and "East Boston Against White Supremacy:" The message, clear.

The rally is a neighborhood response to two recent events that shocked the large immigrant community. First fliers promoting white supremacy and imploring people to "Keep America American. Report any and all illegal aliens," appeared on Feb. 14. In quick response, a number of residents spent hours walking around and tearing them down. Shortly afterward, a handful of men, later determined to be Matthew Wolf of Lowell, Christopher Hood of Malden, and Tylar Larson of Rochester, N.Y.,wearing ski masks brought weapons and walked around the neighborhood and said they were there to support a white Supremacy group called Patriot Front.

Police said when they went to talk to the men on Winthrop Street, the trio became confrontational. Police arrested all three and they faced charged of possession of dangerous weapons and assault and battery on a police officer last week.

The men's attorneys told the court at their arraignment it was a mistake and they men didn't know better. But several residents of East Boston said they don't buy that.

"Residents of East Boston will not tolerate Nazis organizing in our neighborhood. We will not tolerate this open display of bigotry and attempt to spread racist, anti-immigrant hate in our community," said organizers of Saturday's rally.

"We stand with the immigrants who are the heart of our communities. We are calling for those who stand with us to come out to a unity rally in defense of our East Boston community," read an invite online.

As of the 2010 Census, more than 50 percent of Eastie's population is made up of Latin Americans and other immigrants.

"The strength and greatness of East Boston is its diversity," Haggerty said. "It is an immigrant community. And it is a very welcoming community."

The fliers also depicted an image of a man with the words, "Reclaim your birth right," and another that read, "Welcome to Occupied America where morality is subjective, borders are irrelevant, decadence is encouraged, illness is promoted, dissent is criminal."

Patriot Front, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as an extremist hate group, was referenced in the fliers. They also referred to "Blood and Soil"– an early Nazi slogan used in Germany to evoke the idea of a pure Aryan race and the territory it wanted to conquer, according to the National Holocaust Museum. The slogan was chanted at Charlottesville, VA during demonstrations in 2017.

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Related:

• East Boston Reacts To White Supremacist Fliers
• Anti-Semitic Fliers Found In Newton
• Mayor Fuller Responds To Anti-Semitic Fliers Found In Newton

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