Thirty-six people who were arrested at Saturday's self-described "straight pride" parade are scheduled to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court Tuesday, according to the Boston Police Department.
Steven Ahlquist, an activist and author at social justice blog Uprise RI, was among the more than 1,000 people counter-protesting at the parade. Ahlquist says he was shocked to see what he described as “hostile” behavior from the Boston police.
"It surprised me that the police were so aggressive against people who were standing up for the rights of LGBTQ people, and being so hostile,” Ahlquist said. “I've never seen so much anger from police like that before, and I've never seen so many preemptive arrests being made.”
According to Ahlquist, police used pepper spray and mace on counter-protesters, pushed their way into the crowd using their bicycles, and tackled several people in the process of conducting arrests. Ahlquist also said police began arresting counter-protesters before the parade was scheduled to begin.
“As I was walking up, I saw that the police were in the process of arresting three people,” Ahlquist said. “I was surprised because the parade was still maybe an hour away, and the police were already arresting people. [There] was a guy on the ground, his face was on the pavement. The police officer had his knee on the person's head.”
Throughout the parade, Ahlquist said he witnessed several more arrests and “pushy” behavior from police officers on bicycles and on foot.
A local activist group paid the bail for several of the people who were arrested. Boston Police say the charges range from resisting arrest to unlawful possession of dangerous weapons.
One counter-protester, an activist who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, said counter-protesters faced a sea of police officers escalating conflicts within the crowd.
“They were pepper spraying people, they were hitting people with their bikes,” she said.“They were just looking for any reason to arrest us.”
Earlier this summer, an organization that describes itself as “Super Happy Fun America” announced the parade during LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations in Boston. The group claims that straight people are an oppressed majority.
“As a transgender woman, I find it very offensive that people were attempting to hijack our pride, because the community has fought so hard over the last 20 years to gain acceptance,” the activist added. “Those people have never had to risk losing their jobs for being straight, they’ve never been fired for being straight. Nobody's ever been disowned for being straight.”
In a video posted on social media, the activist is seen being dragged into the street by several police officers, who confiscated a bullhorn and grabbed her by her sweatshirt hood.
“I was pretty scared,” she said, though she wasn't arrested. “Someone gave me a bullhorn, all I did was turn it on, and then the next thing I know I have six Boston police officers throwing me to the ground.”
Ahlquist says he witnessed the altercation.
“Ten police officers pushed their way through the crowd, they ran in and grabbed a person, dragged that person out of the crowd into the street where they were surrounded by police officers and forced them on the ground,” Ahlquist said.
Boston Police declined to comment on counter-protesters' allegations of officer misconduct.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that all 36 people arrested were counter-protesters. Thirty-four of the 36 were counter-protesters.
Update: This story was updated to grant anonymity to the transgender woman mentioned in the piece. She contacted WGBH News to express concerns for her safety.
