Report-Back on Mobilization Against the “Men’s March to Abolish Abortion” in Boston

Report back on recent mobilization against gender fascists in Boston, MA. Originally posted to MBTA Distro.

My personal goal at this action was not to get arrested and stop the fascists from being able to proceed downtown at any cost. Less than an hour after we’d initially gathered at Charlesgate park, we intersected with the so-called “Men’s March to Abolish Abortion” right in the heart of Kenmore square. We had anywhere from triple to 5 times their numbers, but the pigs by far outnumbered us both.

Having these numbers allowed us to, at first, effectively shift and evade both direct physical confrontation with the fascists and also avoid being kettled and split up by the cops as they attempted to break us up into different splinter groups. Multiple times, people who were helping keep eyes on the cops shifted the crowd to form and reform, so that we kept layers of comrades at our backs instead of letting the pigs sneak up on us.

I don’t want to harp endlessly on the counter-protestors who had come dressed as literal clowns, as my purpose with this report-back is largely to detail my confrontations with the cops/the fash and the repression faced afterwards. I know that this was a large action, and everyone there came with a plan to use different tactics. I believe that diversity of tactics is a critical strength, and that whimsy and creativity lend necessary life and energy to our movements.

That being said, I was frustrated with the clowns. It felt like they had joined us from a bygone era; pre-Charlottesville, when making fun of fascists was one of the more effective tactics we could use against them. But they’re not fucking funny anymore; they haven’t been funny for years. The tone of the clowns’ resistance was completely off compared to the violence that I and many of my comrades ended up facing. We can’t just be in the streets to embarrass them anymore – we’re beyond that. It’s life or death now.

You could feel a similar sentiment in the air. The action heated up quickly as we continued to face off with the Men’s March. After less than half-an-hour at a standstill, the fash (pigs included), were getting antsy to be on their way.

Anticipating a push, we linked up several layers deep, holding onto each other in a fluid human chain. At this point I still felt pretty safe, even as more and more cops in riot gear appeared to be taking formation too. It looked like they were trying to form a wedge perpendicular to our line; that they were preparing to try to push through our line, breaking us up and apart, armed with bikes and batons.

The vibe shifted quickly, when i heard one of the so-called “marshals” of the allegedly autonomous action making an announcement to our side that “If you didn’t want to get arrested,” you should back up immediately.

The comrades I was immediately with and I strategized in a matter of seconds that we wanted to stay close to the front and not give up our
position; the more people who left, we knew, the more likely it was for the people who stayed to get arrested. It felt like by backing down, we were not only giving an opportunity to the pigs to arrest people, but actively giving them permission.

Clashes broke out today in #Boston, as a large pro-choice counter-demonstration faced off with police and gender fascists at anti-abortion "Men’s March to Abolish Abortion." Police made several arrests of counter-demonstrators.

— It's Going Down (@igd.bsky.social) 2024-11-17T05:29:03.370Z

After this announcement, it seemed to me that about three quarters of our side backed up, leaving the rest of us to face off against the bike cops in riot gear with severely diminished numbers. The clowns, of course, were among those who quickly decided to cede their ground, joining the others on the sidewalk. We stayed tight with everyone who had remained, preparing to hold our ground as the enemies advanced directly down the street at us. The energy was high but desperate. I no longer felt confident; by splitting up, we had already given up our main advantage: that there are always more of us than there are of them.

I remember bracing my feet against the concrete, every few seconds trying to take minuscule steps forward to stop myself from losing ground. I was buoyed up by my friends behind me as the pig directly in front of me pushed his bike harder and harder into my chest and sternum. “Go home,” we screamed. “Give up. we’re not moving!,” we insisted over and over again. “Look at yourselves, you’re leading the fascist march, give up, don’t you feel embarrassed? don’t you feel ashamed?,” our insults to the pigs grew more personal as the confrontation approached its explosive breaking point.

It took several minutes for the pigs to make their arrests. Our comrades were held for several hours. I was told the pigs tried dividing them up by gender, but they couldn’t really clock everyone. Our collective gender nonconformity delayed processing and frustrated the fuck out of the pigs. Unfortunately, it also made the pigs angry, and they took it out on our comrades – by making them wait longer and longer, denying them the chance to use the bathroom, and subjecting them to repeated, escalating and invasive questioning, trying to get them to give the pigs the answers they wanted.

Jail is jail, so it was even more important that our comrades were greeted by the familiar and unfamiliar faces of the jail support team; we had food and water and the legal support helped them with specific information and next steps. By the time our comrades got out, the fascists had already been safe at home for hours. I don’t think any of them were going home injured, aching and bruised. They’d made it to Parkman Bandstand despite our efforts and sacrifices. All we can do now is keep going; the best plan is to learn from each act of resistance.

We need a tighter strategy.
We need to give the cops fewer opportunities and openings to pick us off one by one.
We need to pool our resources for medications like birth control and make safe, non-legal abortion plans and networks now.
We need to run de-arrest trainings and drills, right here in Boston.
We need to make honest, individualized safety plans with our affinity groups so that we know exactly how much we are willing to do and what consequences we are willing to risk.
We need to be prepared to be in dangerous situations.
We need to know and accept the consequences of resisting.
We need to scare them, and exhaust them and their resources.
We need to bring more people into the fold.
We need to be stronger than they are.
We need to keep pushing.

Thanks for reading, solidarity forever, see you in the streets.

This report has been slightly edited for readability.