BOSTON—Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s rally at City Hall Plaza on Tuesday morning was supposed to be about Donald Trump. Instead, it ended with one of her own political opponents hauled off to jail in front of the cameras — all to the upbeat soundtrack of a mariachi band hired to set the mood.

District 7 City Council candidate Shawn Nelson, a Black gay activist, says he turned up to protest on the public sidewalk in a “Shame on Wu” T-shirt with a megaphone. According to Nelson, he respected a court order by staying more than 50 feet away from the event. Within minutes, nine Boston police officers surrounded him. By 10 a.m., he was in handcuffs facing charges of disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

The scene unfolded just as Wu was lecturing about democracy and attacking Trump for authoritarianism. The optics were undeniable: a mayor railing about freedom while her own rival was dragged off in handcuffs a few yards away. All the while, the mariachi band kept playing, as if Boston politics had suddenly turned into a tragicomedy.

Nine cops for one candidate

Nelson described the arrest as blatant suppression. “These are the same ‘go-to charges’ used to silence critics,” he said in a statement. “Pro-Palestine protesters use megaphones. Abortion rights protesters use megaphones. Climate activists use megaphones. Even Michelle Wu herself has been caught on camera using one. But when a Black gay man running for City Council dares to speak out? The full weight of law enforcement comes down.”

For three years, megaphones have been a staple of protest in Boston. Climate activists blocked streets with them. Abortion rights activists blasted them in front of the State House. Pro-Palestine demonstrators used them repeatedly outside City Hall. None faced arrest. Yet Nelson, standing alone on the sidewalk, found himself facing nine police officers. Behind him, the trumpets and guitars of Wu’s band carried on as though nothing was happening.

Democracy Boston-style

The irony was so thick it bordered on parody. Wu painted Trump as a would-be authoritarian while presiding over her own sidewalk crackdown. Nelson’s take was blunt: “This is not democracy — it is suppression. The very same people who claim to defend democracy are the ones undermining it.”

Wu’s critics have long accused her of running Boston like a strongwoman. From pushing through climate mandates to reworking school admissions by decree, they argue she governs with an iron fist behind a progressive smile. Tuesday’s images — Wu grinning on stage, mariachi music floating through the plaza, while her opponent was hauled away — only added to that perception.

Candidate in cuffs

For Nelson, the arrest has already become a campaign moment. His message is simple: if Wu will sic nine cops on a political opponent during a rally, what won’t she do to silence dissent?

Boston’s local press largely ignored the arrest, choosing instead to amplify Wu’s talking points about sanctuary cities. But for those who witnessed it, the memory won’t be about Wu’s lines on Trump. It will be about the sight of a candidate in handcuffs, carted off to the sound of a mariachi band as Wu declared herself the guardian of democracy.