SAUGUS — It wasn’t long before the pro-police rally at Saugus Center got tense.
The event began at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, with about 30 supporters of the police force posted up on both sides of the street, waving flags and holding signs reading “We Support Our Police”.
Selectmen Anthony Cogliano (chair), Jeff Cicolini Mike Serino were among those in attendance.
“I’m from a family of law enforcement dating back three generations,” said Cicolini. ““Not all cops are bad and I know that first-hand. I fully support men and women in blue. They put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe. And I fully support keeping them fully funded.”
“I grew up in Saugus all my life and I’ve never heard any racism problems, any harassment,” said Serino.
Both selectmen said that while they supported funding programs for mental health and drug addiction outside of the police department, they felt the money shouldn’t come from the police budget.
Around 2:15 p.m., a group of counter-protesters, some of them carrying Black Lives Matter, placards, arrived and presented a list of demands for the Board of Selectmen.
Shane Ahola, 22, of Saugus, who organized the counter-rally, laid out what their group was asking for.
The list of demands included cutting the police budget by 50 percent, eliminating qualified immunity and paid administrative leave for officers accused of offenses, eliminating the police union, eliminating militarization, and pushing for more transparency in the police budget.
“At our last protest there was an insane amount of bigotry. We’re here to bring light to how dire the situation is,” said Ahola. “The best way to attract people in the middle is to expose the righteousness on our side.”
Cogliano spoke with Ahola shortly after he arrived and expressed his willingness to open a dialogue with the demonstrators.
Antuan Castro Del Rio, a Cambridge resident and Colombian native, spoke for the counter-protestors through a megaphone, drowning out the pro-police demonstrators.
“Who do you protect?” He asked police officers on the scene. “Who do you serve?”
As Del Rio spoke, a man from the pro-police event began to yell profanities at him. The situation became heated and police came between the groups to keep them separated.
Eventually, the counter-protesters approached the pro-police rally and the two groups descended into a close-range shouting match.
Ahola expressed interest in diverting police funds towards other social programs and different forms of policing.
“We would be interested in seeing social workers utilized instead,” he said. “Most of what police do have nothing that involves violence, despite that being mostly what they’re trained for.”
“If they need to fund the other programs more, they need to fund it through other sources. Not taking money that’s already been allocated to the police,” said Cicolini. “We believe in police and fire the way it’s constituted and we don’t want that to change.”
Cicolini did acknowledge that there was still work to do.
“I could never say that the status quo is always good. I’m a big advocate for community policing,” he added. He also expressed interest in changing the way police are trained.
The pro-police rally was also largely supportive of President Trump, with many demonstrators also holding signs in favor of the President.
“I was always a Democrat until I listened to Mr. Trump speak,” said Janice Jarosz, who came to the rally draped in the American flag. “I believe in the country — I believe in law and order. You have to follow the rules.”
The crowd dispersed around 4:30 p.m. without further incident.
