If you’re going to punch Nazis, first make sure they’re actually Nazis

White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right" exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Emancipation Park (Credit: Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

In Boston over the weekend, tens of thousands of people showed up to protest against fascism as a small band of far-right activists staged a protest on behalf of free speech.

Overall, there were very few arrests as a percentage of the people who showed up. According to Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, about 40,000 people were there — mostly to protest against the protesters who showed up — and there was no property damage.

Boston PD Commissioner William Evans: We had 40,000 people "standing tall against bigotry and hatred in our city, and that's a good feeling" http://pic.twitter.com/g7NBoLxieR

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 19, 2017

#Boston police estimated 30K-40k protesters today. 32 arrests. So 99.99% of people protested peacefully, but let's focus on .01% of people.

— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) August 19, 2017

The organizers of the “Free Speech Rally” were a different bunch from the Charlottesville, Va., crew. Saturday’s protest featured a different contingent of demonstrators, including one man wearing an Israeli flag and Trump hat who was harassed and treated as if he were a fascist. One counter-demonstrator even boasted that he would steal the Trump fan’s identity.

Wow.Protestors surround two men in Trump gear and scream profanities, tell them to get the f*^% out of Boston. I asked one why he's here: http://pic.twitter.com/qRiTjhDXlj

— Jessica Weiss (@jessweiss1) August 19, 2017

The incident is not the first time that someone with no known associations with neo-Confederate or fascist groups has been treated otherwise. In Sheridan, Colorado, last Wednesday, a man reported that he was attacked by a knife-wielding man who apparently mistook his long-on-top, short-on-the-sides haircut as some sort of Nazi fashion statement.

“Sooooooo apparently I look like a neo-nazi and got stabbed for it … luckily I put my hands up to stop it so he only stabbed my hand…. please keep in mind there was no conversation between me and this dude I was literally just getting out of my car,” he wrote on Facebook.

The moral of the story? If you’re going to oppose fascists, make sure you’re actually opposing fascists.