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Drivers taking Route 1 in Saugus this weekend in were greeted with a hate-filled sign hanging from the Walnut Street overpass that blamed Jewish people for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 a day before the anniversary. Photos of the signs that quickly made the rounds on social media showed three masked men standing proudly behind the anti-semitic graffiti.
A similar sign appeared in Danvers on an overpass on Route 114 Sunday, the 21st anniversary of the attacks. No group has officially taken credit for the stunt, but watchdogs who track neo-nazi groups say the signs were the work of NSC-131.
FashAlertMA, a Twitter account that documents hate groups in Massachusetts, said members bragged about the signs on the messaging app Telegram.
The Saugus Police Department said on Monday that it condemns the hateful message, but the men broke no laws when displaying the sign as it is protected speech under the First Amendment.
Danvers officials released a statement decrying the message on the signs.
"We want to be clear that we reject this hateful, anti-Semitic, and discriminatory behavior," the statement says in part. "... Now, more than ever, we call on the community to reject toxic and deceitful messaging spread by these groups, to uplift one another, and to elevate the voices of those who have been harmed."
The Anti-Defamation League lists the NSC-131 as a neo-Nazi group that believes they are at war to preserve the white race. Some motorists said the group also had a sign on a Route 1 overpass that said: "protect white communities."
Members of NSC-131 have staged several protests around Boston this summer. A brawl broke out between the group and counter-protesters in July outside of a Drag Queen Story Hour at the Loring Greenough House in Jamaica Plain. Members wore skull masks, similar to those the men on the overpass wore, and shouted "Off our streets!" while holding signs that called the organizers "pedo scum."
The group marched with another white nationalist group Patriot Front along the Freedom Trail on July 4. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu denounced the groups. Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden added a team of civil rights prosecutors to target these groups following these demonstrations.
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