About 200 people marched through Boston Saturday in what was billed as a “Straight Pride” parade — but the event devolved into confrontations between right-wing supporters and counter-demonstrators.
The parade, which featured a massive float supporting President Trump at its beginning, was led by a group dubbed “Super Happy Fun America” whose website claims it “is committed to creating spaces for people of all identities to embrace the vibrancy of the straight community.”
Far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was the grand marshal for the march from Copley Square to City Hall. Among the scheduled speakers was a leader of The Proud Boys, a group known to intentionally provoke its detractors.
Hundreds of police, many wearing riot gear, lined the streets and walked alongside the parade, while counterprotesters chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police,” and “We’re here, we’re queer, we’re fabulous,” the Boston Globe reported.
But near the end, confrontations erupted between marchers and demonstrators, which included black-clad members of Antifa. “This is a mess,” Buzzfeed reporter Ryan Broderick posted on Twitter. “Parade has dissolved. Milo marching though the street. Fights all over.”
The parade organizers were granted a permit in June. City officials said that request was approved because they could not deny a permit based on an organization’s values.
The group was pranked with glitter-filled letters quoting Bible verses a month later.
Plans for the parade inspired other groups to hold similar events. One organizer in Modesto, California, blurted out that his was a “totally peaceful, racist group” when appearing before the City Council there.
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