As tens of thousands rallied in Boston on Saturday, some for "free speech" and others "against hate," the dominate media narrative was that those protesting against hate and white supremacy did so peacefully.
However, that's not true — and it's quite far from the truth, in fact.
The genesis
A "free speech" rally had been planned in Boston on Saturday, one similar to that planned in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. However, given how last weekend's events panned out, hardly any people showed up for the free speech rally, while tens of thousands gathered for counter-demonstrations.
Still, it was anticipated that a large number of neo-Nazis and white supremacists would show up. That never happened and the "free speech" rally only had a permit for 100 people.
The media's portrayal
Because of the lack of Nazis, the mainstream media's dominate narrative on Saturday was that counter-protesters who showed up were demonstrating peacefully. Democrats doubled down on the "peaceful" narrative.
Festival atmosphere now on Boston common. Tiny "free-speech" rally disbanded. Mostly peaceful so far but riot polic… https://t.co/33d7ni6M9f— Joel Gunter (@Joel Gunter) 1503163316.0
Faster to denounce a peaceful, anti-hate protest than actual white supremacists and neo-Nazis. https://t.co/u7EOTIgDw0— Sarah McBride (@Sarah McBride) 1503171129.0
Free speech rally in Boston is over! Great job everyone in keeping it peaceful. It's clear nazi's aren't welcome. #FightSupremacy— Scott Dworkin (@Scott Dworkin) 1503165749.0
Rocks, stones, urine — oh my!
However, in reality, the protests weren't largely peaceful. And instead of clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters — which includes groups of Antifa, anarchists, communists, Black Lives Matter and other progressive activist organizations — Saturday saw action between the counter-protesters and....the police.
According to the Boston Police Department, counter-protesters threw stones and bottles of urine. They also carried around blunt objects to be used in clashes.
#BPD is asking individuals to refrain from throwing urine, bottles and other harmful projectiles at our officers.— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston Police Dept.) 1503171149.0
#UPDATE: #BPD confirming rocks being thrown at officers on Tremont at West.— Boston Police Dept. (@Boston Police Dept.) 1503172129.0
Boston police officers "were hit with a lot of stuff today," Boston police commissioner William Evans said at a press conference.
More than 40,000 people turned out for the demonstrations while at least 33 were arrested.
Other instances
Of course, here were several instances where the counter-protesters clashed with civilians, such as a woman who was drug by an American flag and an Afghan war vet who was verbally berated for supporting President Donald Trump.
Tweets that sum it up
Hard to reconcile 'bottles filled with urine were thrown at police ' and 'day went largely as planned.' https://t.co/Aer83WaJje— Josh Jordan (@Josh Jordan) 1503179993.0
The efforts by the media to downplay and justify antifa's violence have been obvious and significantly harm their credibility w/ Americans.— (((AG))) (@(((AG)))) 1503235708.0