After police released Pierite, he stood at the site of the Boston Massacre and urged other marchers to take a “collective exhale” and “let that moment go.” He then returned to his previous messaging: “The imperialist project continues here.”
The demonstration, emceed by Pierite, was part of a push to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day rather than Columbus Day. The holiday celebrated on the second Monday in October has become a cultural and political flashpoint, with many Native American groups and progressive allies arguing against a holiday celebrating the discovery of an already populated land and expeditions that led to misery for Native peoples.
Some Italian groups have strenuously resisted this narrative, saying they see Christopher Columbus, who was Italian, as a symbol of the contributions of Italian immigrants in America. Many conservatives, including President Trump, have taken this side.
Both federally and on the state level, the holiday is officially Columbus Day, though Boston municipally recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day.
At noon on Saturday, about 70 people gathered near the Park Street station on the Boston Common to rally for expanding the Indigenous Peoples holiday designation further.
“This is for all the murdered and missing Indigenous women,” said activist Gloria Colon, who had painted a red handprint on her face.
As has become common at rallies for progressive causes over the past several years, speakers moved quickly from grievance to grievance, including the conflict in Gaza, environmental protections, immigration enforcement, and LGBT rights.
Chants included “city by city, town by town, we’re going to bring Columbus Day down,” as well as “cops here, bombs there, US out of everywhere,” and “free, free Palestine.” The crowd booed at the mention of newly announced Nobel Peace Prize winner, María Corina Machado, an opposition leader to the socialist government in Venezuela.
Pierite, who was wearing Native garb as well as a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, said he didn’t worry about the Indigenous Peoples Day message being lost among a wide-ranging demonstration.
“It’s important for us to be in solidarity,” he said before the rally began. “It’s all related.”
Pierite also brought up the arrests that took place Tuesday at the Gaza protest. There, a demonstrator broke an officer’s nose with a punch, according to police. Another officer was struck by what’s believed to be pepper spray, leading police to return their own pepper spray on the crowd, according to a police report.
Two days after the incident, authorities upgraded the charges against the 13 arrestees to also include an unusual felony riot charge that’s formally called the “prohibition on the promotion of anarchy.”
Speaking to a Globe reporter at the start of the rally, Pierite said the arrests are front and center in his mind, but, “We are not going to be a disruptive force.”
After the Saturday rally that included activists burning incense and blowing the horn of a conch shell, demonstrators marched up Park Street to the State House. After rallying briefly there in support of a bill to rename Monday’s holiday at the state level, they began moving down Beacon Street toward Tremont, blocking the road.
There had been little to no police presence up to that point, but two police cruisers appeared when the marchers crossed Tremont Street and held up traffic.
What happened next wasn’t exactly clear, but officers placed Pierite in the back of a cruiser.
Marchers quickly surrounded the cruiser where Pierite was held, yelling “let him go” and shouting insults at the police. A couple of additional cruisers, lights on, converged on the intersection. After a couple of minutes, the “marshals” of the march, clad in orange vests, cleared a way for the officers who’d detained Pierite to drive off, which they did.
The march continued down the block to the public area near the potato famine memorial, where organizers stopped to regroup. A few minutes later, a police cruiser pulled up and officers opened one of the rear doors, and Pierite stepped out drawing cheers from the crowd.
Another protester gave him a hug, then Pierite led the crowd in a chant of “Indigenous Peoples Day immediately.”
A Boston police spokesperson said there were no arrests at the event.
Pierite later said he’d argued with an officer who was considering ticketing a car that was bringing up the rear as part of the demonstration. Pierite said that after he’d been arrested, he’d had a discussion with the officers about how he’d been worried about the elderly people in the car. After police found he didn’t have any outstanding criminal charges issues, they brought him back, according to Pierite.
“Despite all of our precautions, we were still in this position,” he said later.
Globe correspondent Sarah Mesdjian contributed.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.
About the Author
