The leader of a neo-Nazi group was arrested by Boston police Saturday while leading a group of 20 masked demonstrators outside a mansion hosting a drag queen story hour for children, local media outlets reported citing both police and witnesses.
The incident itself took place outside the Loring Greenough House in Jamaica Plain and saw violence break out between the group and counter-protestors.
This is also not the first time white supremacist extremists have held public demonstrations in the city.
NSC-131
The neo-Nazi group in question is known as Nationalist Social Club 131, also abbreviated as NSC-131. The organization itself derives its name from National Socialist, which is where the Nazi Party derived its own name from, and 131 to symbolize the letters ACA, which stands for Anti-Communist Action.
The group itself was established in Massachusetts in 2019 by the now 23-year-old Christopher R. Hood Jr. and has been recognized by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.
NSC-131's ideology is centered on racism, antisemitism and white supremacy, with its members seeing themselves as soldiers waging war against a Jewish-run plot that seeks to annihilate whites from the Earth, according to the ADL.
Since its founding, in 2019, the group capitalized on extremist trends such as the George Floyd protests and the January 6 Capitol riots, gaining notoriety as a result. According to Boston's local NPR affiliate GBH, NSC-131 is one of the most active white nationalist organizations in New England along with the Patriot Front.
Incidentally, 100 members of the Patriot Front had marched through downtown Boston earlier in July in a demonstration of their own, according to the Boston Globe.
"The presence of white supremacists at a Jamaica Plain book reading today, like their downtown Boston march earlier this month, is at once a disgrace and a warning. Society everywhere is targeted by these groups, and society everywhere must reject them."
Kevin Hayden
Protesting children's drag queen story hour
Hood and his followers came to the area dressed openly in clothing identifying themselves as NSC-131, as well as all changing NSC-131 together, according to local media.
As shown in footage uploaded online by local ABC-affiliate WCVB, the protesters also held a banner that read "PEDO SCUM OFF OUR STREETS."
After this, as they were leaving, an altercation began between Hood and a counter-protestor. Ultimately, Hood and two counter-protesters were arrested, though the counter-protestors were later released on bail, according to the Boston Globe.
"It's clear that Boston is a waypoint in the crusade of hate launched five years ago in Charlottesville," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement following the incident.
"The presence of white supremacists at a Jamaica Plain book reading today, like their downtown Boston march earlier this month, is at once a disgrace and a warning. Society everywhere is targeted by these groups, and society everywhere must reject them."
The "grooming" allegations
Protests by members of the far right against parts of the LGBTQ+ community have become more frequent in recent months. This is especially seen with education and drag queens, which have become increasingly hot-button issues in American political discourse.
In particular, members of the far right accuse the LGBTQ+ community of "grooming" their children with a focus on sexuality, and they often single out drag queens in this regard.
It should be noted that at least two members of NSC-131 have reportedly been exposed for soliciting sex from minors and in one case having possession of child pornography.