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Videos: Mass Arrests At Occupy Boston, Police Brutality Alleged
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 11, 2011
Modified Oct 11, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 11, 2011
Modified Oct 11, 2011
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Early this morning a contingent of 700 police swept into a park where Occupy Boston protesters had set up camp, arresting over 100 people who refused to comply with an order to vacate. The encampment is not the main OWS site at Dewey Square, but a larger park nearby that protesters had recently seized. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino had pleaded with the demonstrators to leave the park by midnight, and the Boston Herald reports that "the park’s patrons had just spent $150,000 to spruce it up." Here's video, via Charlestown Patch, of police clearing the park around 1:30 a.m., as the crowd chants "the whole world is watching!":
The demonstrators, including many veterans, had linked arms and prepared for arrest in the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, where they had expanded their footprint after ten days in a smaller park. Others read the Constitution out loud as cops cleared the park, tossing protesters' tents and personal belongings into the trash. “They just ripped the group open, and went for our tents,” said Nicholas Hassell, a 21-year-old grill cook from Franklin. "They shouldn’t be doing this. We have the right to exercise our freedom of speech." Occupy Boston has accused the officers of brutality and violence. Here's video of police arresting a veteran, as the crowd shouts "Shame!":
In an interview this morning, Mayor Menino told a local morning show, "I simplify [sic] with their issues, some of those issues we really have to look at in America, but when it comes to civil disobedience I will not tolerate civil disobedience in the city of Boston." Yes, isn't it great to see the city of Boston continuing its proud tradition of not tolerating civil disobedience?
Tagged
boston
occupy boston
occupy wall street
ows
police
protesters
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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