• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

WATCH THIS TV NEWS CREW POSE THE FREE SPEECH RALLY ORGANIZER LIKE A MODEL ON A RUNWAY

Written by DIG STAFF Posted August 17, 2017 Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS

Al Jazeera English producers frame a “walking shot” with Boston Free Speech Coalition organizer John Medlar | Image via video by Rod Webber

 

 

By now you have probably heard that the so-called Boston Free Speech Coalition got its permit to rally on Boston Common this Saturday, and you’ve probably seen some of the interviews that spokesman and organizer John Medlar has given to a number of salivating reporters today. The guy likes to talk, mostly about how he doesn’t want his cause to be lumped in with white supremacists just because they’re likely to show up at his event, and can rationalize almost anything, or at least attempt to distance himself from evil. Medlar is on the Common this afternoon, and spitting the following sort of background and nonsense to any hack who is willing to listen:

 

  • He is 23 years old, was born and raised in Newton, and went to Newton North High School. After which he moved to Watertown. Medlar currently attends Fitchburg State University, where he majors in film.

 

  • Many of the people who initially signed on to speak at the rally were “right-wingers,” but organizers “wanted to assemble a broad variety of speakers.” “It just so happened that we had a lot of right-wingers first.”

 

  • Organizers were allegedly working on getting progressives and libertarians to speak, but “that’s when Charlottesville happened.”

 

Image via video by Rod Webber

 

  • Rally organizers “do not define ourselves as part of the alt-right… We don’t really care about race… We think that people should be treated as individuals.”

 

  • According to Medlar, none of the speakers identify with the so-called “alt-right.” On the contrary, he claims “most of the memes out there make fun” of white supremacists.

 

  • Organizers were allegedly going to cancel, but they “realized that people were going to show up anyway.”

 

Though we’re not excited to give Medlar and his tiny outfit any more attention, that’s pretty much out of our hands at this point. The national media has arrived, and they’re already doing everything that you probably hate about the national media. From covering the rally like a horse race—who’s speaking, who’s not, who has a permit, who doesn’t—to giving an immature contrarian a far bigger podium than he deserves.

 

 

While we don’t recommend listening to Medlar too much, this video filmed by local filmmaker and artist Rod Webber is worth watching. In the first part (before Webber conducts his own interview), the organizer is speaking with a reporter from Al Jazeera English, and it’s actually a decent and revealing chat. At one point, the reporter even gets Medlar to say that he thinks “creeping Sharia Law” is “something to be aware of.” Soon after, however, all your foulest television news nightmares come true, as a producer sets up Medlar for a classic walking shot, then positions him all over the Common like a model on a fashion shoot.

 

Again, it seems absurd to say that Medlar and his pals should be ignored at this point. There is a feeding frenzy whether people like it or not. As for whether he should be given a microphone and the green light to pitch his trite hypocritical rhetoric on national television is another story altogether. Not like anyone in TV news gives a damn either way, so long as they get their lighting and camera shot set up just right.  

DIG STAFF

Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.

More from author
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    VIDEO: JACK'S ABBY X BOSTON CELTICS PRIDE AND PARQUET HOPPY LAGER UNBOXING & TASTING
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    WALSH TO WASH; JANEY TO BECOME 1ST BLACK BOSTON MAYOR & 1ST WOMAN TO LEAD CITY
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    What have Massachusetts conservatives said about mob violence in Washington DC?
    MASS CONSERVATIVES MOSTLY MUM ON DC MOB, THOUGH CARR PUSHES CRACKPOT CONSPIRACY
  • DIG STAFF
    https://digboston.com/author/dig-staff/
    UFC FIGHTER WHO WAS JUST ON COVER OF DIG HAS BIGGEST WIN OF CAREER

Filed Under: News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: alt right, antifa, Black Lives Matter, Boston, Boston Common, C-Ville, Charlottesville, Donald Trump, John Medlar, Klan rally, MAGA, Massachusetts, nazis, northampton, racists, rally, Unite the Right, violence

WHAT’S NEW

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. HONORED, SPEAKERS ADDRESS RACISM

FORMER MASS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE PREDICTED VIOLENCE BEFORE ASSAULT ON CAPITOL

FORMER MASS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE PREDICTED VIOLENCE BEFORE ASSAULT ON CAPITOL

PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS

PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Jostling for position and influence are the disadv Jostling for position and influence are the disadvantaged candidates, existing industry participants, and municipalities … https://digboston.com/the-road-to-home-delivery-pt-5-dogs-in-the-fight-identifying-the-players/ #cannabis #politics #analysis #Massachusetts
The candidates will be interviewed about the upcom The candidates will be interviewed about the upcoming race. https://digboston.com/wu-and-campbell-to-speak-at-mayoral-candidate-webinar/ #politics #mayor #campaign #Boston #Massachusetts
Participants took to the streets in the hope of sw Participants took to the streets in the hope of swaying the Biden administration. https://digboston.com/on-national-day-of-action-protesters-call-for-eviction-moratorium/ #housing #justice #protest #national #Boston #Massachusetts
“They refuse to respond to this humanitarian cri “They refuse to respond to this humanitarian crisis where people really need them. We’re just ignoring this problem and it’s getting worse and worse.” https://digboston.com/its-harder-than-ever-to-find-a-bathroom-in-boston-whats-the-city-doing-about-it/ #politics #unhoused #homeless #bathroom #public #health #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]