A Black teacher and musician has recounted a harrowing attack by a white supremacist group in Boston.
Though the incident occurred two years ago, the victim told a federal court on Thursday that members of the white nationalist hate group punched, kicked, and beat him with metal shields during a march through downtown Boston.
Testifying in federal court, Charles Murrell III sought an undisclosed amount of damages from the group’s leader, Thomas Rousseau.
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“I thought I was going to die,” Murrell said, according to The Boston Globe.
Last year, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani found both the group and Rousseau, of Grapevine, Texas, liable for the attack after Rousseau failed to respond to a civil lawsuit Murrell had filed, the newspaper reported. A ruling will be issued after Talwani hears testimony from Murrell and several other witnesses.
Murrell was in the area near the Boston Public Library to play his saxophone on July 2, 2022, when he was surrounded by members of the Patriot Front and assaulted in what his lawsuit describes as a “coordinated, brutal, and racially motivated attack.”
A witness, who testified at the hearing according to The Boston Globe, recalled how the group “were ganging up” on Murrell and “pushing him violently with their shields.”
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Murrell was reportedly taken to the hospital by ambulance for treatment of lacerations, some of which required stitches, according to the lawsuit. To date, no one has been criminally charged in connection with the incident.
Attorney Jason Lee Van Dyke, who has represented the group in the past, claimed last year that Murrell was not telling the truth and was, in fact, the aggressor.
Regarding the lawsuit, Murrell, who has a background in special education, told The Associated Press last year that he hopes to hold Patriot Front accountable, aid his own healing process, and prevent similar incidents from happening to children of color, like those he teaches.
The Boston march, involving about 100 members of the Texas-based Patriot Front, was one of the group’s so-called flash demonstrations held across the country. In addition to shields, the group carried a banner reading “Reclaim America” as they marched along the Freedom Trail, past some of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
The group members were largely dressed alike, wearing khaki pants, dark shirts, hats, sunglasses, and face coverings.
Murrell said he had never heard of the group before the confrontation but believes he was targeted based on their tone and the slurs they used during the encounter.
