BOSTON (WHDH) - City leaders say hate has no home in Boston after a group was seen standing along the St. Patrick’s Day parade route with a neo-Nazi symbol and a banner that read, “Keep Boston Irish”.
“There is no place for hate in Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu said Tuesday. “It was incredibly disturbing to walk by that with my family and with so many families around.”
The group caught the attention of parade-goers and one person posted this photo of the group standing along West Broadway to Twitter.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said the scene was very disturbing.
“South Boston has a proud history of supporting our veterans and military families. Many of them were killed in World War II fighting the Nazis and here we have a bunch of Nazis watching the parade for South Boston veterans,” he said.
The South Boston Allied War Veterans’ Council hosts the parade and Commander Dave Falvey released a statement that reads:
“These spectators were neither invited nor welcome at our parade, which is an inclusive celebration and not at all a place for hate and division. As a Jewish American, it hits especially close to home for me. Unfortunately, we only have control over who can participate in the parade and cannot control who attends. Such groups will never be welcome in any capacity at the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day / Evacuation Day parade.”
Anti-defamation League New England’s Deputy Director Peggy Shukur added, “We’ve seen this group which is known as NSC 131, or the Nationalist Socialist Club, pretty often in the last several months. They’re the same group that protested outside the Brigham to protest doctors who were focused on better health equality.”
Shukur said the group has shown up in Portsmouth and Providence as well.
“They’re very careful about how they fashion their protests, they do it in a fairly orderly way, usually within the boundaries of freedom of expression — freedom of speech.”
The ADL says solidarity rallies can be an effective response.
“A message to NSC 131 to say that we’re not afraid of you. We’re going to gather together and stand up against all the hate that you stand for,” said Shukur.
Elected officials said they are working with the Human Rights Commission to track the latest appearance of this group.
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