Free speech took a back seat to public safety at Saturday’s demonstrations

It’s now clear why no one could hear the right-wing speakers on the Boston Common on Saturday. The police kept demonstrators 75 yards away, and the speakers didn’t have any amplification. I’m not sure whether that was a police decision or a result of their own poor planning. (And I doubt it would have made a difference.)

The police had a huge dilemma on their hands. Even though the vast majority of the 40,000 counter-protesters were peaceful, there could have been some real trouble from a few hotheads if they had been allowed any closer. There were only a few dozen right-wingers.

I’m not sure how this could have been handled differently. Someone suggested that a pool reporter should have been allowed in, and that certainly would have been better than nothing. It didn’t help that BPD Commissioner Bill Evans issued a statement in which he sounded glad that the speakers were not able to get their message out:

We had a job to do; we did a great job. I’m not going to listen to people who come in here and want to talk about hate. And you know what, if they didn’t get in, that’s a good thing ’cause their message isn’t what we want to hear.

Let’s not kid ourselves. There was real potential for violence far beyond the skirmishes that actually took place. The Boston Police did a good job of protecting public safety. But free speech took a back seat on Saturday, and I imagine we’re going to be hearing more about that in the days to come.

Update: First Amendment Rob Bertsche has similar thoughts.

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