A group of counter-protestors have responded to an ‘Anti-choice Men’s March’ in Boston by wearing costumes which exposed the organizers for the clowns they are.
I mean that literally, since those opposed to the men’s march were seen wearing actual clown costumes as if to hold a mirror up to the foolishness of the whole endeavor. It all went down outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Boston, where the march against abortion rights — which billed itself as an event to “abolish abortion and rally for personhood” — drew counter-protestors wearing full clown suits. According to Boston Herald, those in opposition to the anti-abortion protest called themselves the “Clown March,” and arrived with the intent of “greet[ing] them with a joyful display of resistance.”
Footage of the event was captured on TikTok, and shows hordes of counter-protestors dressed in clown suits filing alongside those in the Men’s March. One pro-choice protester was seen advocating for “women still [having] a choice” over a loudspeaker as crowds of men marched nearby. “There ain’t no doubt, I love women’s rights,” the counter-protester said, “my body, my choice.” Others reacting to the event online questioned whether the Men’s March organizers “realize they are doing this in one of the most liberal states in the country,” and praised the Clown Marchers for “never let[ting] them feel comfortable.”
“No one is putting up with this garbage here,” another user wrote on TikTok. It’s reported that 18 people were arrested at the event, with a Boston Police report describing some of those involved in the Clown March as an “unlawful, riotous, tumultuous assembly.” Police say it was the counter-protestors who “refused all orders,” adding their intent was to create a safe path for the planned Men’s March, which was blocked by the clowns in Kenmore Square.
“Officers at the scene were tasked with protecting the First Amendment Rights of all, maintaining order, protecting the lives of the individuals from all sides, as well as arresting any violators,” the police report read. One of those arrested was 24-year-old Riley Dowell, the daughter of the Democratic House Minority Whip, Katherine Clark.
Unfortunately, the kind of rhetoric displayed by the Men’s March have become increasingly louder in the wake of Donald Trump’s stunning election victory, with a barrage of misogynistic and sexist attacks permeating on social media in the weeks since Election Day. One of these attackers, white nationalist Nick Fuentes, offered a rallying call for this kind of rhetoric earlier this month, when he shared a social media post saying “Your body, my choice. Forever.”
Fuentes later doubled down on the controversial statement, as scores of women took to social media to share stories of embracing the radically feminist 4B movement, breaking up with their Trump-supporting boyfriends, and committing to remaining abstinent. Just yesterday, the White House was forced to respond after footage emerged of a neo-Nazi march in Ohio, with the administration describing the protestors — some of whom were seen waving swastika flags — as evidence of “the hateful poison of Nazism, antisemitism, and racism.”
The role Trump’s election played in fanning these hateful flames unfortunately makes sense, since in 2020 he became the first-ever president to attend an anti-abortion march, and years later was responsible for handpicking the Supreme Court that eventually overturned Roe vs. Wade.