A banner hung from the Walnut Street bridge over Route 1 in Saugus reads “JEWS DID 9/11” and “DEFEND WHITE COMMUNITIES.”.Anti-Semitic banners were also hoisted over the railroad bridge over Andover Street in Danvers, as the photo shows.
Officials in Danvers could not be immediately reached for comment Monday night.
Saugus Police said in a statement Monday that they received multiple calls about the banner around 6 p.m. Saturday.
The department determined that the man did not break the law.
“While the First Amendment protects the legal right to speech, the Saugus Police Department condemns hateful messages displayed in our community and condemns anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred. ‘ said the statement.
The agency alerted the New England Anti-Defamation League.
The organization’s executive director, Robert O. Trestan, called the men “cowardly masked extremists” in a statement Monday afternoon.
“The scapegoating of the Jewish community is an age-old but highly pernicious anti-Semitic trope that must be spoken out and condemned whenever and wherever it occurs,” Trestan said. Using the tragedy to spread false, destructive and divisive narratives hurts our community and sense of security, and taints the memory of the victims of that day.”
The banner drop comes amid a rise in hate acts in Massachusetts and is the latest in a series of provocations by NSC-131.48 more anti-Semitic cases According to the ADL report released in April, the rate will exceed 2020 in 2021.
Meanwhile, NSC-131 sabotaged Boston’s drag queen story hour this summer, hoisted banners reading “Protect the Boston Irish” at the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, and ramped up recruitment efforts. Did.
NSC-131 formed in Worcester in 2019 and has since expanded across New England, spreading hate banners in public spaces, painting graffiti, distributing propaganda, and demonstrating at events and protests. The Globe previously reported.
The group’s founder, 23-year-old Christopher R. Hood Jr., is now indicted in West Roxbury District Court for quarreling with anti-protesters at the Drag Queen Story Hour in Jamaica Plain in July. .
NSC-131 has played a role in growing hate, especially in its homeland of New England, Trestan said in a telephone interview Monday night.
“It is the insertion of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories into the mainstream, [a] A great way to get it into the mainstream is to drop banners over highways,” he said. The conspiracy is being used as an opportunity to amplify, Trestan said.
Banner has drawn bipartisan criticism.
“In our society, anti-Semitism seems to never end,” Republican State Comptroller candidate Anthony Amore tweeted on Monday, condemning the removal of the banner. “We should not tolerate this. I hope you will join me in denouncing this abhorrent prejudice.”
Democratic Boston City Council member Tania Fernandez Anderson tweeted about the banner on Sunday, calling for unity in the face of rising hate.
“It’s yet another example of the vile fascism prevalent in our community,” she said.
These handy masked cowards were seen on Route 1 in Saugus yesterday. Anti-Semitism seems endless in our society.
We should not tolerate this. I hope you will join me in denouncing this abominable prejudice. pic.twitter.com/LfRQbkX6O3
— Auditor Anthony Amore (@AnthonyAmore22) September 12, 2022
Yet another example of despicable fascism so prevalent in our community. https://t.co/hoa6Lzq9Gw
— Tania Fernandez Anderson (@Tania4D7) September 11, 2022
Alexander Thompson can be reached at alexander.thompson@globe.com. follow him on twitter @AlMThompson
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