Council President Wu on Planned Boston Common Rally on 8/19

Boston, August 16, 2017, — The organizers of the Free Speech Rally in Boston Common said earlier today they have received a permit for holding the rally in Boston Common on August 19.

Multiple media outlets have confirmed that the permit is for 12 PM to 2 PM for the Free Speech Rally, which features some speakers from the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA last week.






Council President Wu Releases Statement on Charlottesville, Planned Boston Rally

Boston City Council President Michelle Wu released the following statement: “I condemn in the strongest possible terms the hate-fueled violence by white supremacists that took place this weekend in Charlottesville, VA. Make no mistake, this was a despicable act of domestic terrorism. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

“While unfortunately this kind of hate is not new in our country, our values and founding principles require us to do better. When we say there is no place for hate here, we do so knowing that we have to take action to remove the foothold that white nationalists and white supremacists currently have.

“We also have to recognize that these hate groups are not limited in their membership to any one city, state, or region. Boston has offered opportunity and security to people of many different backgrounds. We strive to do better, and to be more inclusive, every day. But we are not perfect, and we are not immune. The event planned for Saturday August 19th demonstrates that. We are facing a pivotal moment when we must decide who speaks for our City. We may not be able to deny hate groups the ability to speak, but we can drown them out with voices that are stronger and more numerous. We can overwhelm their hatred with our own collective love.

“Ignoring these groups has allowed them to fester and flourish in the dark. The dangerous rhetoric of President Donald Trump’s campaign and administration has made them feel secure spewing their hatred out in the open. They are preparing to stand in one of Boston’s most sacred places, on land that has belonged to the public collectively for over 350 years, and to tarnish it with views that disgust us. Therefore we must prepare ourselves to show them — peacefully, lovingly — that their views are not “common”; that they have no place on the Boston Common; that this City welcomes immigrants, people of color, people of different religions, ethnic identities, sexual orientations, and gender identities.

“The Boston I love is the Boston that used the Common to protest tyranny in the 1700s, protest slavery in the 1800s, rally for civil rights in the 1900s, and rally at the Women’s March just this year. One rally by hate groups will not destroy that legacy of progress. Boston is stronger than that. And that is what we must demonstrate to the world on Saturday.”