Hundreds of anti-abortion marchers escorted by Boston Police were met with hundreds of counterprotesters Saturday over several waves of their three-mile march in Boston. The unexpected severity of the demonstrations resulted in police making arrests, and equipping themselves with riot gear and assault rifles.

Nine people were arrested at the protests, which began at 11 a.m. at Planned Parenthood on Commonwealth Ave, stopped at Kenmore Square, and continued to the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common. Ahead of the march, Stephen Imbarrato, a retired priest from Florida and co-founder of the National Men’s March, held a group prayer. 

The Men’s March demonstrators wore suits and clerics. Counterprotesters, which included participants dressed as clowns, disrupted the prayer with chants and instruments. The clowns played John Williams’ “Imperial March” and Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon.” Other counterprotesters wore surgical masks or keffiyehs. Counter-culture activist, Robbie Rodsteamer, was also present with a group of people filming him.

RELATED | Photos: Hundreds of counterprotesters clash with police at anti-abortion demonstration in Boston

Katie Sheridan from East Bridgewater said she drove into the city to express her concerns as a mother. 

“My girls are going to lose the right that I was born with. That’s not fair,” said Sheridan. “So I’m just here … to say my peace.”

Edzani Kelapile, a counterprotester and Northeastern student who wore clown makeup to support abortion rights and universal health care, said he has many friends who are negatively affected by movements like the Men’s March.

“[The Men’s March] may think that restricting abortion and ‘protecting babies’ is a moral thing,” said Kelapile, “but you’re really sacrificing the women and people who can give birth up today for a future that isn’t even guaranteed because the same people who want abortion restricted also want the world to catch on fire via climate change and are just in generally hateful people.” 

Another counterprotester clothed in a onesie of the video game character Donkey Kong, Jacob Nelson, said community activism is crucial now that Democrats are no longer in power.

“The only way we can show our political thoughts is [through] activism [and] community organizing,” said Nelson. “It’s really important to support [movements like this].”

Nelson thought the Men’s March was misguided.

“[The Men’s Marchers] seem to think that they’re being good Christians at the moment, but being a good Christian is being humble, being kind, being good to your neighbor. [They’re] none of these things that they’re suggesting such as repression and treating women as lesser—they are your partners,” said Nelson. “They need to reevaluate what their God and what their morals are telling them.”

The clown makeup is a response to the Men’s March’s message, Nelson said.

“It’s like walking alongside them and showing them who the real jokers are,” Nelson said.

At Kenmore Square, nearly 200 individuals blocked the road in a human chain. In minutes, dozens of officers in riot gear lined up in front of the blocked road. 

Tensions escalated as a mixture of screams, clown trumpets, and prayers got louder. After about a 10-minute-long standoff, police officers, without warning, began pushing the human chain with bikes and wooden batons. The wall of counterprotesters pushed the police back with massive padded wooden barricades. Police and counterprotesters shoved each other as both parties fell down, with some officers getting their body cameras knocked off. 

Those who refused to move were either pinned to the ground or taken forcefully to a nearby police van. 

Police gave an official warning after arrests were made, saying force may be used to break off the demonstrations. 

Jill Sheridan was one of the people arrested in the altercations. She came with friends and family to advocate for abortion rights. 

“These Christian fascist men have no place in Boston,” she said before her arrest. “We are not going back to 1950.” 

Sheridan is glad Massachusetts codified Roe v. Wade but said the effort does not end with the states. 

“We have sisters and daughters all over the world, and we are energized, and we will not let these men take away our rights,” she said.

Rita Fiorillo walked alongside the Men’s March holding a dog leash. Attached to the end of the leash was a man dressed in a red robe from the book, “A Handmaid’s Tale.” 

Fiorillo called the man her handmaid, and said it was “a cautionary tale to these men to be very careful about letting women have rights.” 

During the march, Fiorillio and her “handmaid,” who refused to identify himself as part of his act, pretended to be a part of the Men’s March and mocked other counterprotesters. Some police officers could not tell if they were for or against the march, and let them walk alongside the men. 

Another protester donned a one-eyed bear suit, the unofficial mascot of “Cuckfest,” a Boston DIY music scene festival put on by the Cuckzine, which creates popular art and musical spaces in Boston,

“I just hate some of these hyper-religious groups of men who are trying to tell women what to do,” said the protester. “I think just pointing out the irony in their statements, most of these guys don’t even have children. They’re not men. A real man lets people make their own decisions and respect other people’s decisions.”

Although named the Men’s March, a few dozen women could be seen among the crowd. Pam Stenzel traveled from Tampa, Fla. to participate. She said she attended the march to speak for the children. 

Stenzel’s birth mother was raped and gave birth at 15. 

“She chose to give me my life, and she chose to give me my family,” Stenzel said. “I don’t believe that I deserve the death penalty for the crime of my biological father.” 

Stenzel, who spoke at the rally to share her story with participants, thinks adoption is the right alternative to abortion. 

“What we would like to see is for [the Trump] administration to spend some effort, time, and money in promoting adoption as a loving option,” she said. “[A mother] can give the gift of her child to a family that desperately wants one.” 

Joan Mckee, 83, from Washington, D.C., said this was her third time participating in the Men’s March. Like the men, McKee is protesting against abortion for religious reasons. She said young people have their innocence “stripped away from them,” and that conceiving children is a holy practice that must be done in marriage. 

Even women who were sexually assaulted should give birth, she said. McKee declined to comment on whether or not women should bear a child who was conceived by incest. 

Police escorted the Men’s March participants to the Parkman Bandstand which was barricaded. Reporters and many participants were on the other side of the barricade.

After another group prayer, the Men’s March’s Co-Founder Jim Haven, from Florida, spoke to the crowd, acknowledging the counterprotesters.

“We’ve got a bunch of very angry people and others who are literally dressed as clowns calling us Nazis and fascists. Very interesting. It’s sad to see people go upside down in their perception of reality,” said Haven. “But let’s remember, but if not for the grace of God, this is actually one of the reasons why we do this public march and rally. So we can help those who are indoctrinated by the propaganda of evil.”

Haven said the counterprotesters’ “evil ideology” has allowed them to justify the “killing of children.”

“The lie of abortion takes a pregnant mom and encourages her to turn her heart against her baby, and so much so that she would kill her own child growing within her,” Haven said to a crowd of boos. The rally continued for an hour with more speeches from participants.  

Demonstrators peacefully dispersed at around 2:45 p.m., bringing an unfamiliar quietness to the end of the demonstrations. 

As clown counterprotesters left the area, chatting and juggling with one another, Boston Police officers laughed and joked around with members of the Men’s March wrapping up their banners. 

While shutting down, both co-founders spoke to The Beacon about their motivation to travel from Florida to Boston to spread their pro-life message. 

“Boston is where our nation began. It makes sense that it would be a place that we would stand up for the rights of every single human being, every single person, and stand up against the ongoing daily mass murder of our littlest brothers and sisters,” said Haven. “The innocent bloodshed that needs to end.”

Imbarrato said it was more about the bigger picture than the city specifically.

“We want the Supreme Court and the government of the United States to finally recognize that the rights of the pre-born have been denied, and that these rights have to be recognized, and that they will, of course, abolish abortion,” Imbarrato said.

Haven wished the sea of counterprotesters circling them the best, but strongly disagreed with their stance on abortion.

“Life begins at conception of fertilization, [it’s] not a religious belief,” Haven said. “I would think everybody would agree with science, and that’s what it is.”

Imbarrato said he had no issue with counterprotesters expressing their beliefs, but wished their efforts could be used for his movement. 

“If the pro-life movement, the anti-abortion movement, was this passionate of diseased people, abortion would have been abolished a long time ago,” said Imbarrato.