Late last week three men were spotted around East Boston hanging white supremacist propaganda in public. The group of men was taping posters to street poles for the group Blood and Soil, a slogan that was synonymous with Nazi Germany and chanted during the Charlottesville demonstration that killed one person.
The posters urged people to call the police on immigrants, was filled with hateful speech and directed people to the group’s website that is filled with rhetoric about whites reclaiming America.
Then on Friday night, three men wearing face masks were observed by police from District A-7 hanging the posters near 1 Winthrop St. Knowing the posters were causing a stir in the community and all over social media officers approached the group, one of which had been carrying a can of spray paint, in an attempt to speak with them.
While speaking with one of the members of the group, who was extremely uncooperative, the male removed his wallet from his pocket. However, when officers reached to obtain what they thought would be the male’s identification card, the male allegedly slapping the officer’s hand away met them. Officers immediately placed the male under arrest who was later identified as Matthew Wolf, 26, of Lowell and charged him with Assault and Battery on a Police Officer.
Officers then arrested the other two members of the group who were identified as Tylar Larson, 18, of Rochester, NY, and Christopher Hood, 20, of Malden. After being frisked by police both Larson and Hood were charged with allegedly Carrying a Dangerous Weapon.
In a joint statement following the incident, Mayor Martin Walsh, City Councilor Lydia Edwards, Rep. Adrian Madaro and Sen. Joseph Boncore said the Eastie community is united in opposition to white supremacy and hatred and called the presence of the group in Eastie both disturbing and unacceptable.
“Boston is strong because of its diversity and the neighborhood of East Boston has been a beacon for immigrants for centuries. Our communities are interconnected, interdependent and our growth as a city relies on a future of mutual, and cross-cultural, admiration, tolerance and respect,” read the statement. “Boston rejects hatred, racism and promotion of white supremacy in all forms. These ideas are toxic to our society and contribute to physical violence, economic disparity and division along lines of race, class, nationality and origin. While we must always uphold a free exchange of ideas, hatred that demeans individuals or groups based on who they are, how they look or where they come from is not welcome in Boston. Those seeking to promote bigotry will always fail in the face of unity that is stronger, lasting and more resilient.”
cutlines,
An example of the racist propaganda posters that were hung around Eastie by a group of men late last week.