SatanCon targeted by demonstrators including Patriot Front members
Patriot Front #PatriotFront
Demonstrators from across the ideological spectrum gathered Saturday to protest outside a convention for Satanists in Copley Square where — for a short time — members of Christian groups, a white nationalist organization, and antifacist activists converged in protest.
The demonstrations unfolded outside the Boston Marriott Copley Place, where The Satanic Temple in Salem is hosting a three-day gathering called SatanCon.
Demonstrators bearing signs denouncing Satan gathered outside the hotel Saturday morning. Some protesters wore crosses and others wore rainbow colors showing support for the LGBTQ community. At about 1 p.m., the protest grew to include members of the white nationalist organization Patriot Front, dressed in khaki pants, blue shirts, baseball caps, and gaiters that hid their faces.
Patriot Front members carried flags bearing the organization’s emblem and displayed a banner on the sidewalk facing the hotel, according to photographs posted on social media. Their travels to and from Copley Square were documented by social media users, who posted photographs and videos of Patriot Front members traveling on the MBTA’s Green Line.
Documentation of the group’s presence in Greater Boston began appearing on social media at 12:14 p.m., and included video of Patriot Front members walking near Brookline High School.
By the time the group arrived in Copley Square, counterdemonstrators had mobilized to confront them. Video livestreamed on Twitch showed counterdemonstrators directing chants of, “Nazis, go home,” at Patriot Front members.
Lucien Greaves, spokesperson for The Satanic Temple, criticized Patriot Front on Twitter.
“They don’t come stupider,” he wrote.
Mayor Michelle Wu and City Council President Ed Flynn issued a joint statement on the Patriot Front group Saturday night.
“Boston stands firmly against the hateful ideology of white supremacist groups, and their presence is not welcome here,” the statement said.
Boston police said demonstrators outside SatanCon were peaceful and no one was arrested.
Patriot Front members exited Copley Square at about 1:15 p.m. and headed back onto the Green Line, according to social media posts.
Videos posted to Twitter showed Patriot Front members headed toward Riverside Station on the Green Line’s D Branch. Audio captured a man off camera taunting Patriot Front members for covering their faces.
“They come to Massachusetts to spread their hate,” the man said. “They have nothing else to spread but hate.”
As the outbound Green Line train traveled through Newton, Transit Police brought it to a stop at Eliot Station to investigate a report of a man who accosted Patriot Front members onboard, said Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan.
“He followed them. Obviously, he didn’t like their message,” Sullivan said. He estimated there were 10 to 12 Patriot Front members on the train.
There was no physical confrontation between the man and the Patriot Front members, Sullivan said. He said the man, who wasn’t identified, agreed to exit the train and board a different one.
While the train was stopped, Green Line service on the D branch experienced delays up to 15 minutes, according to tweets by the MBTA.
Last year, Patriot Front caught law enforcement in Boston off guard when it marched through the city’s downtown on July 2.
During that march, members of the group carrying large metal shields surrounded a Black man near Back Bay Station. The man, Charles Murrell, said he was assaulted and reported the confrontation to police.
Outside SatanCon on Saturday afternoon, demonstrators on Huntington Avenue described themselves as “born again, Bible-believing Christians” and said they oppose Patriot Front.
“They weren’t here for very long, which is good because we didn’t invite them here. I don’t think they really love God, because if they did, they wouldn’t believe in any of that,” said Marcos Barg, a demonstrator from New York.
Felipe Silva, who was demonstrating with Barg, said, “We’re not here because we hate anybody, or to say that we’re better than anyone.
“They [Patriot Front] had their masks on and faces covered because they didn’t want people to know who they are,” Silva said. “But we’re here because we’re proud to declare that God is real.”
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has encouraged parishioners to stay away from the event, which runs through Sunday.
“We ask Catholics not to organize or encourage others to go to the event to protest. It will only make it more prominent and give the organizers the attention they seek,” the archdiocese said in a statement on its website.
Instead, the archdiocese asked Catholics to pray and provided a list of sites where people can gather to pray.
Globe correspondents Isabela Rocha and Jesus Marrero Suarez contributed.