Racist and anti-Semitic protesters tried to disrupt a Holocaust commemoration event at Faneuil Hall in Boston on May 8, where more than 900 people had gathered to memorialize the victims of the Nazi genocide.

Nearly 20 white supremacists, led and organized by Billy Roper, chairman of the Arkansas-based neo-Nazi group White Revolution, showed up to protest the commemoration.  The previous day he and his followers held a brief rally outside a library in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Police barred Roper and his followers from entering the library, where they had planned a meeting, because they had reserved it under a false name, the "Immigration Reform Party," and police did not have enough warning to guarantee safety.

In Boston, nearly 150 left-wing and anarchist activists organized a counter-protest against the neo-Nazis, requiring a heavy law enforcement presence to keep the groups apart and maintain order.  Two people were arrested.

At Faneuil Hall, Roper and his followers displayed anti-Semitic signs and exchanged shouts and insults with the counterprotesters.  At one point, Roper rubbed a slice of ham on an Israeli flag.  After the demonstration, Roper told reporters that American support for Israel was the reason the 9-11 terrorist attacks occurred.

The white supremacists included followers of Roper as well as members of other groups from around New England, including the Connecticut White Wolves.