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‘Stand up to this kind of scum’: South Boston gathering to call out local neo-Nazis

The protest comes after a white supremacist group blatantly attended the neighborhood's St. Patrick's Day parade last weekend.

By Christopher Gavin

March 25, 2022

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Nearly a week after a local neo-Nazi group turned out at South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, protesters plan to be in the neighborhood to call out the hate group on Saturday, when the white supremacists are apparently set to return.

Rallied by local filmmaker and musician Rod Webber, the showing at Medal of Honor Park — advertised online as “FCK NSC” — is intended to publicly condemn the Nationalist Social Club, or NSC 131, which made headlines this week after attending the parade with a banner reading, “Keep Boston Irish.”

“It’s to stand up to this kind of scum and say that this behavior and waving of these literal flags of hate as not acceptable and won’t be tolerated,” Webber told Boston.com on Friday.

The Nationalist Social Club is identified as a neo-Nazi group by both the Counter Extremism Project and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

The group was formed in eastern Massachusetts in 2019 and claims to have small, independent groups throughout Europe and the United States, according to the ADL.

Stickers for the organization have also turned up on MBTA vehicles recently. The transit agency, in a tweet on Thursday, advised passengers who see them to report them so they may be removed.

Saturday’s gathering, slated for noon, comes on the heels of an online spat between NSC 131 and local Celtic punk rockers, the Dropkick Murphys.

The Quincy-based band served the neo-Nazi organization a cease and desist letter earlier this week, after one of Webber’s tweets highlighted how the group illegally used the band’s song, “The Boys Are Back,” in a promotional video of sorts.

“F***** Losers,” the band wrote in a tweet. “Stop using our song for your little dress up party video. We will SMASH you 👊🏻.”

When someone responded, “Link up or shut up, 131 will rock your s***,” the band’s account fired back: “I’ll be down M Street park on Saturday at 12:30 walking my dogs if you’ll are looking to discuss.” (sic)

“What’s to talk about. Said we’re we’d be Saturday 🤷🏻‍♂️,” the band added.

A spokesperson for the Dropkick Murphys said in an email on Friday, however, the group is not involved with Saturday’s anti-Nazi event.

A self-described documentarian, Webber and his wife, Lauren Pespisa, have kept close watch of neo-Nazi and other far-right groups in recent years.

Webber, who launched a satirical run for president in his latest film “2020: Dumpster Fire,” said Friday the couple has had “numerous interactions” with NSC 131, including one following Sunday’s parade that turned violent.

Captured on video, Webber, walking on Dorchester Avenue, can be heard poking fun at NSC 131 members as they walk along a sidewalk.

A confrontation ensues when two members step out of their line and approach Webber. More members join and they eventually shove Webber and push Pespisa.

Webber said the neo-Nazis “threw a couple of kidney punches,” but he and Pespisa were not injured.

Although Webber did not report the assault to Boston police, a department spokesperson said Friday that authorities were looking into the incident.

Webber said online chatter on channels he closely follows indicates NSC 131 plans to show up in South Boston on Saturday, but whether that comes to pass is sometimes difficult to forecast.

Still, whether or not the neo-Nazis show it isn’t as important as stating, for the record, that their presence and what they stand for will not be tolerated in Boston, Webber said.

“The fact that they stood out there unopposed in front of thousands, if not tens of thousands of people at that parade, and not a single damn person other than my wife and I said a thing — I mean, what kind of message does that send to the minority population that lives in those neighborhoods?” Webber said. “…What does that say about the people of Boston when no one says a damn thing about it?”