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Pride Flags Pulled Down At Natick Churches, Anti-LGBTQ Letters Left Behind Pride Flags Pulled Down At Natick Churches, Anti-LGBTQ Letters Left Behind
Pride Flags Pulled Down At Natick Churches, Anti-lgbtq Letters Left Behind Two Natick churches said they had flags showing support of the LGBTQ community torn down and replaced with banners proclaiming "Jesus Is King" over the weekend. Anti-gay letters were also left behind at the houses of worship.  Christ Lutheran Church and First Congregational Church of Natick posted on Facebook about the incidents that happened late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, July 27-28.  First Congregational Rev. Cindy Worthington-Berry posted that the church's pride, transgender, and mental health flags were all removed and thrown under some nearby bushes.&n…

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
6 Western Mass Teens Held Mock 'Slave Auction,' Made Racist Comments On Social Media: DA 6 Western Mass Teens Held Mock 'Slave Auction,' Made Racist Comments On Social Media: DA
6 Western Mass Teens Held Mock 'Slave Auction,' Made Racist Comments On Social Media: DA Six Hampden County eighth-grade students have been charged in juvenile court after chat logs were discovered where they made threats against minority students, used racist slurs, shared racist memes and comments, and held a mock "slave auction" for two black classmates, authorities said.  Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni held a press conference on Thursday, March 14, explaining his decision to charge the Southwick Regional School students. He called their online chat "vile, cruel, and contemptible" in a news release.  Hatred and racism have no place in this community. …

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Man Who Threatened Merriam-Webster HQ In Western Mass Over Definitions Gets Year In Prison Man Who Threatened Merriam-Webster HQ In Western Mass Over Definitions Gets Year In Prison
Man Who Threatened Merriam-Webster HQ In Western Mass Over Definitions Gets Year In Prison If you look up the word federal prison inmate in the dictionary, you'll find a photo of Jeremy David Hanson.  Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, California, was sentenced to a year in prison after he admitted to sending threats to Springfield-based Merriam-Webster because he was upset over the dictionary's inclusion of gender-inclusive definitions, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said.  From Oct. 2 through Oct. 8, 2021, Hanson repeatedly sent threatening messages through the Contact Us page promising to hurt employees and disparaging members of the LGBT community.  …

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by Josh Lanier
Police & Fire
Man Yells Racial Slur At Restaurant Employee At Bradley Airport, Police Say Man Yells Racial Slur At Restaurant Employee At Bradley Airport, Police Say
Man Yells Racial Slur At Restaurant Employee At Bradley Airport, Police Say A man faces numerous charges after allegedly yelling a racial slur at an employee of a restaurant at Bradley International Airport when they ran out of sandwich bread, police said.  The incident happened on Saturday, April 8 around 6:30 p.m., when state troopers responded to the D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches shop inside the airport terminal on a reported disturbance, according to state police.  Troopers then met with a Black employee of D’Angelo, who said that the eatery had run out of sandwich bread because of an unusually high number of customers during her shift.  When…

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by Ben Crnic
Police & Fire
Antisemitic Slur Carved Into Car, Parts Of Home Burned In Stow: Police Antisemitic Slur Carved Into Car, Parts Of Home Burned In Stow: Police
Antisemitic Slur Carved Into Car, Parts Of Home Burned In Stow: Police Authorities in Stow are investigating after several cars and a home were damaged over the weekend in an apparent antisemitic vandalism incident.  Police responded for a report of cars that were damaged at a home on North Shore Drive around 9:42 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5, Stow Police Chief Michael Sallese reports. Upon arrival, officers learned that the tires on two cars were slashed and one of them had an antisemitic slur carved into its side. Further investigation revealed that parts of the home were burned as well, Sallese said.  MESSAGES OF HATE: A Stow family woke up to fresh burn m…

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by David Cifarelli
Police & Fire
Neo-Nazi Protesters Break-Up Story Time Event In Boston, Organizer Says Neo-Nazi Protesters Break-Up Story Time Event In Boston, Organizer Says
Neo-Nazi Protesters Break-Up Story Time Event In Boston, Organizer Says The organizer of a story-time reading series in Boston said she had to cancel Sunday's planned event after Neo-Nazis protested outside.  Patty Bourrée, who hosts a biweekly Drag Queen Story Hour at the Seaport, decided it wasn't safe as many members of NSC-131 stood outside of The Paseo holding derogatory signs that denounced the event, reports said. A phalanx of Boston police officers stood in between them and the doors of the building, photos shows.  "I really hate that I cancelled a story hour today because two protest groups were present, but I can’t put myself (and the kids!) in a pote…

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by Josh Lanier
News
White Supremacist Brawl In Boston Sparks Pushback At DA’s Office White Supremacist Brawl In Boston Sparks Pushback At DA’s Office
White Supremacist Brawl In Boston Sparks Pushback At DA’s Office Police arrested multiple people over the weekend after fights between members of a neo-Nazi group and counter-protesters broke out at a drag queen reading event in Boston. They will be arraigned Monday morning.  Christopher Hood, the founder of NSC-131, a known neo-Nazi group, was arrested for fighting on Saturday outside of the Loring Greenough House in Jamaica Plain after his faction protested a Drag Queen Story Hour. The group wore masks to hide their faces and screamed, "off our streets." They also held a sign calling the people who ran the event "Pedo Scum."  Seth Rosenau, who was coun…

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by Josh Lanier
News
Man Indicted For Hate Crime Offenses Relating To Arson Of Church In Springfield Man Indicted For Hate Crime Offenses Relating To Arson Of Church In Springfield
Man Indicted For Hate Crime Offenses Relating To Arson Of Church In Springfield A New England man has been indicted for hate crimes in connection to a fire that destroyed a predominantly Black church in Western Massachusetts. Dushko Vulchev, age 45, of Houlton, Maine, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday, Feb. 10 on four counts of damage to religious property involving fire and one count of use of fire to commit a federal felony for a fire in Springfield at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Presbyterian Church in Hampden County. He was previously charged on a criminal complaint in April 2021. According to court documents, early on Dec. 28, 2020, police…

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by Zak Failla
News
Police Investigate Racist, Anti-Semitic Graffiti At Yale University Police Investigate Racist, Anti-Semitic Graffiti At Yale University
Police Investigate Racist, Anti-Semitic Graffiti At Yale University An investigation has been launched at Yale University after two separate instances of anti-Semitic and racially charged graffiti that were discovered at a construction site on campus. The Yale Police Department launched an investigation into anti-Semitic and racist graffiti that were reportedly spray-painted inside the construction site for Kline Biology Tower in New Haven County, which has been closed since work began at the site, according to Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins. Higgins said that on Monday, Sept. 20, members of the construction crew working in the area found the graffiti sp…

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by Zak Failla
News
Reports Of Black Students Receiving Racist Emails Under Investigation At UMass Reports Of Black Students Receiving Racist Emails Under Investigation At UMass
Reports Of Black Students Receiving Racist Emails Under Investigation At UMass UMass Amherst is reporting an increase in racially motivated anti-Black incidents, according to a statement by the university’s vice-chancellor. In a message sent to students on Thursday, Sept. 23, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer Nefertiti Walker, said a racist email was sent to numerous Black-centered student groups on campus on Friday, Sept. 17. The university is investigating the email which was reportedly sent from a non-student account and signed “UMass coalition for a better society." The content of the email, Walker said, was “vile, blatantly racist, and violently offens…

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by Kathy Reakes
News
Asian-American Business Leaders Create New Initiative To Fight Racism, Discrimination Asian-American Business Leaders Create New Initiative To Fight Racism, Discrimination
Asian-American Business Leaders Create New Initiative To Fight Racism, Discrimination “...We are tired of being treated less than American…”  So begins an open letter in the Wednesday, March 31, 2021 edition of The Wall Street Journal signed by over 1,000 American-Asian business leaders. Some of the names (or at least their companies) you'll probably recognize: Jerry Yang, Eric Yuan, and Steve Chen, for instance, the co-founder of Yahoo, CEO and founder of Zoom, and co-founder of YouTube, respectively. But there are hundreds more who have made an impact in their fields and communities. In an email sent to supporters, David Lu, a managing partner at Hyphen Captial and one of…

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by Vira Mamchur Schwartz