Some cops make arrest while others block protesters in Dewey Sq. Photo by Conqy.
A Ferguson protest in Dudley Square turned into a march of people that kept getting thwarted by Boston and State Police to shut one of the highways running through Boston.
The action started at the Southeast Expressway southbound at the Mass. Ave. connector, where protesters were mostly blocked - although they shut down the connector, police kept them off the Expressway.
The march then headed back into Roxbury, paused in front of Boston Police headquarters, then went up Mass. Ave. into the Back Bay, where police first formed a cordon around the westbound turnpike ramp at Mass. Ave. and Newbury. Next up was a walk to the turnpike ramp off Clarendon Street, to which BPD quickly rushed reinforcements, then up Clarendon to Boylston, into Chinatown and attempts to get into the O'Neill Tunnel from Essex Street up each ramp up to Seaport Boulevard.
At least 18 protesters were arrested - 8 at the Mass. Ave. Connnector, 10 in Dewey Square.
City Councilors Tito Jackson and Charles Yancey marched with protesters in the beginning, as did state Rep. Byron Rushing.
The view from high atop One Financial - those are a lot of blue lights::
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Comments
Some photos and video
By adamg
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 8:57pm
Wow. This is going to get bigger before it dies down.
By sunny
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:09pm
This is about so much more than Michael Brown.
Really?
By MatthewC
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 3:10pm
What else is this about?
Happy now, Adam?
By anon
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:16pm
Happy now, Adam?
Oh?
By adamg
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:35pm
No rioting, no property damage, people exercised their First Amendment rights, the cops respected that, what's not to like? Oh, yeah, some traffic disruptions, which I'm sure affected you personally.
Uh Adam I think you need to
By anon
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:51pm
Uh Adam I think you need to turn on a scanner. A lot more than traffic disruptions is now going on.
I'm listening to the scanner
By adamg
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:56pm
And, yes, roads are being shut as protesters march and stop in intersections. But, unlike in other cities, they did not shut down a major highway (they got on the ramps to 93, but not the highway itself, I think, except for maybe a few of those 8 or so people put into wagons), and they're not staying in any one place for long now.
Put into wagons ? A-Man , was
By kvn
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 3:46pm
Put into wagons ? A-Man , was that a Freudian slip? You really wanted to say Paddy Wagons , admit it , fess up .
Behold the Amazing Kvn!
By perruptor
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 6:54am
His mind-reading feats will astound you! Watch as he divines the true thoughts of people he's never seen! See him explain the psychology behind everyday speech! He's incredible!
Hokay, Mass. Ave ...
By adamg
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:06pm
Is basically at gridlock now as several hundred protesters march north towards the Back Bay (at 10:05, they were at Washington).
And so what?
By lbb
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:59am
This happens twice a week during the warm months for the March for Left-Handed Emus or whatever the flavor du jour is. If a traffic disruption for a cause is intolerable to you, you need to find somewhere else to live.
What about throwing a
By Lmo
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 3:18pm
What about throwing a hospital into code black? That is intolerable.
Mass. Ave. around 10 p.m.
By adamg
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:10pm
How do you figure there is a
By anon
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:13pm
How do you figure there is a 1st Amendment right to try to block traffic on the Expressway. Is there a 1st Amendment right to block entrance to T stations. Which is to say how is it that you have a 1st Amendment right to block me from trying to get to my job or wherever else I'm going.
BTW, our 1st Amendment rights have been set by numerous decisions of our court system; that's the same system of justice that, via grand juries, can prevent prosecutors from bringing people to trial absent probable cause of a crime. Yet someone pictured above wants Wilson arrested nonetheless; I guess in some extra-judicial process.
Would you deprive Wilson of a jury trial also; or do you only want to deprive him of the part of the judicial process represented by grand juries.
part of the judicial process
By SoBo-Yuppie
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:35pm
A "judicial" process meant to favor cops over the people.
Bullshit.
By anon
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 8:22am
Reasonable doubt is a very high standard to meet, as it should be. The "system" weighs heavily in favor of not convicting innocent people.
I don't think a grand jury is
By bibliotequetres...
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 9:29am
I don't think a grand jury is charged with determining reasonable doubt-- only to determine if there is reason enough to bring an indictment and allow the accused to make his defense arguments at trial. I think, but am not sure, that bringing the accused in to testify at a grand jury, where he is not cross examined, is rare.
I'm not a lawyer, though, and will defer to the UHub legal team.
They're not blocking traffic.
By BikeWithKids
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:35pm
They are traffic.
Any jumping on hoods of cars like Lucas Brunelle?
By Markk02474
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 11:27pm
Reminds me of the idiots who rolled over cars because the Sox won the World Series. Any excuse for these kind of people.
No... The peaceful protests
By datadyne007
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 12:19am
No... The peaceful protests right now are very different than the World Series riots.
And before you cry that the protests tonight were not peaceful, the BPD has been calling them peaceful all night.
"these kind of people"
By perruptor
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 7:18am
I think I know what you mean. You mean, "people who aren't just like me, who care about things I don't care about." The protesters have got your attention, which is their goal. That you refuse to get the point of the exercise is not their failure; it's yours.
Getting people's attention:
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 10:31am
Yup. They've got people's attention all right-by pissing people off more, and more than likely putting off or alienating people who might otherwise support them by engaging in stupid, asinine tactics.
out of touch...
By Ha Ha
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:03am
"kids get off my darn grass!!!"
If you are going on 93 right
By Somuchforrights
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:39pm
If you are going on 93 right now you should probably stop posting and texting. Unless you're a cop- then you can do whatever you want.
Arrest the retards
By Markk02474
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 11:28pm
If they want to march in the street, get a parade permit and pay for police details. Otherwise, stay on the sidewalks and obey the pedestrian crossing signals.
When a punk kid rips off a store, punches its owner, walks down the middle of the street, disobeys a police officer, grabs for his gun, and gets shot, he owned the outcome, no matter the colors. When people disrespect their fellow citizens by blocking transportation and costing us all with police overtime, all over a punk kid, they too ought to get arrested and fined. Some people seem to want an opportunity to commit crime, burn, and loot. The Boston ones are little different, just doing it in a limp way while also pretending they are morally entitled to it.
Wow!
By TheGrovehaller
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:16am
Its that simple huh? From what I learned of the"punk kid" he was no angel. But did he deserve for lethal force to be used against him? Do you know how many punk kids would die on the T/metro transit across the nation for being rude, aggressive,threatening etc? Sorry the good populace was inconvenienced briefly as others attempt to affect change!
Your use of the "r" word,
By Felicity
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 2:26pm
Your use of the "r" word, makes you look like a real ignorant asshole.
Blocking highways/freeways, etc, isn't how to affect change.
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 9:26am
It's a stupid way to go about it, and it just makes many people more angry and more upset. Frankly, I feel alienated from. put off by, and disgusted with the people who engage in such stupidity. When people have had a stressful day at work or school, or whatever, they've got the right NOT to be subjected to the extra stress of non-moving traffic when they're trying to get home to their families, to an important appointment, or wherever.
Imho, as another poster succinctly pointed out, there are other ways of affecting change, and irritating the general population by stupid tactics that alienate people and put them off.
Did you ever notice?
By perruptor
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 2:45pm
Did you ever notice that the people who have no interest in doing something are always so helpful, telling you that there are other ways of doing the thing, and that those ways are superior to the way you're trying to do it? Never mind that those other ways have been tried, and have not worked, even if the helpful critic actually suggests some other way, which they almost never do. Here we have Mr. alienated, put off, & disgusted, who thinks his "right" to not encounter traffic jams supersedes anyone else's right to freedom of speech. Classic.
Here's a question, perruptor and lbb:
By mplo
Fri, 11/28/2014 - 5:30pm
How would you feel if a loved one, friend or acquaintance was the victim of a stroke, heart attack or any other life-threatening illness or injury died en route to a hospital due to the fact that you and your friends insisted on purposely shutting off access to hospitals out of frustration due to not being allowed to shut down a major highway, not to mention dramatizing your point over a cause by engaging in such arrogant stupidity? That's something, imho, that you might want to think long and hard about!
How would you like it if a pit bull tore into a family member?
By adamg
Fri, 11/28/2014 - 5:58pm
Nobody died because of what happened at the Mass. Ave. Connector. And I'm assuming you have never actually been attacked by a pit bull.
At this point, however, I'm going into friendly neighborhood censor mode. The three of you up to your rooms, please. No more comments about this, because minds will not be changed.
Dearest mplo
By adamg
Fri, 11/28/2014 - 6:53pm
When I say I'm going into "friendly neighborhood censor mode," what that means is that I will be deleting further comments from people not logged into the system. You can rant at me all you like, but nobody else will see it.
Not cool
By KellyJMF
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:39am
Your use of a slur is not okay.
Why the protests spilled onto highways:
By BikeWithKids
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:31am
http://streetsblog.net/2014/11/26/why-ferguson-pro...
No it hasn't impacted me at
By anon
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 7:10am
No it hasn't impacted me at all. God you suck
How ironic
By anon
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 8:34am
That he is giving you the forum to tell him he sucks.
Upvoted more than once
By Belmont
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 8:58am
I'd like to upvote you more than once. The lack of self-awareness is strong in this person.
As opposed to ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:35am
The damage that recently happened in Keene, NH because of a pumpkin festival and Morgantown, WV due to a football game.
Oh, did anyone hear about that? Probably not - it was drunken people "celebrating" by destroying things rather than folks with an actual grievance to air mobilizing around a tragedy and peacefully marching. The nerve!
Actually everyone heard about
By Danger
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:30am
Actually everyone heard about it and made a huge deal about hurrrrrrr durrrr when white people riot cops don't even come!!!! Even though there were cops in riot gear like there are at every other riot. Also no one burned down buildings and looted and blocked highways but cool false equivalence, swirly.
The traffic disruptions are disgusting and should be stopped.
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 9:32am
What the cops should do is to set up a certain marching route, where certain streets are closed off to vehicular traffic, under normal channels, with the protestors having obtained a permit for marching, instead of being so anarchic.
That's how I feel about it, and I stand by my position.
Or they could have a lovely free-speech zone
By perruptor
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 2:50pm
Maybe they could tell the protesters that they can only protest in the MBTA rail yard next to the Expressway. Sure, that's what the First Amendment's all about!
Ha ha ha ha!
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 7:34pm
Well, perruptor! People like YOU have helped get more repressive right-wing regimes elected into power here in the United States. Classic on YOUR part, too!
Another entertaining message
By perruptor
Fri, 11/28/2014 - 7:20am
from Planet Mplo. Predictably, not even remotely associated with reality.
Nice job shutting down BMC
By anon
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:32pm
Nice job shutting down BMC jerks!
how does blocking people from
By Boston_Bloke
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:39pm
how does blocking people from reaching Boston medical Center do anything? Pathetic
Brings attention...
By SoBo-Yuppie
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 10:31pm
...to police brutality, inequality and racism.
Sure, you can protest peacefully in the Common but what is that going to do? It won't be as impactful as shutting down a road.
Can you picture a bunch of cops, government officials and people in positions of authority saying "hey, look they are protesting peacefully. Since they are peaceful let's stop the gerrymandering, let's try to give people access to quality education and healthcare, let's stop with the racist voter ID laws, let's make sure when a rich white person and a poor black person commit the same exact crime they get the same exact punishment.......etc, etc.
Hokay...
By dmcboston
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 11:15pm
Gerrymandering? You have no friggin clue what that means. Quick, no intanets...in which state did that start? Clue, it was named after a salamander, sorta. I say let's stop with the racist 'card me at Star Market for buying beer' laws. Let's make sure that when a rich white person, like OJ Simpson , oh, never mind. Good legal rep takes money.
The color line is green.
No one has the 'Constitutional right' to block a common thoroughfare. Ambulances need to get through. What if one of the bunch of UHub reported stabbings or shootings cannot get to BMC? They die in the middle of a packed street?
Bad news, that victim was probably black. Face reality. This is a good city, folks in charge generally are decent. These little darlings that are marching are in it for the disruption. They won't change shit, just get someone dead that had a shot at life.
Oh, your favorite amendment, in it's entirety:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Damn apostrophe...
By dmcboston
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 11:18pm
Damn apostrophe...
Angry much?
By SoBo-Yuppie
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 12:44am
You are one angry person. Just imagine how much more angrier you'd be if you had to deal with institutionalized racism.
So...
By dmcboston
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 8:58am
I guess when someone calls you on your cut-and-paste BS rant, the only answer is 'woh, angry'.
I have no idea wether you're black or white and I don't care. As far as institutional racism, I'm not a sobo yuppie(not verified). I was born here, watched this city for a long time.
Oh, the Supreme Court has dealt with gerrymandering, repeatedly. See this page from 1996: "SUPREME COUNT CONTINUES TO STRIKE DOWN MAJORITY MINORITY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS "
http://www.civilrights.org/monitor/vol8_no5_6/art5...
And, a happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Not as angry
By bulgingbuick
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:38am
as you get when the cleaner can't get the stains out of your yoga pants.
I caught that too
By Boston_Bloke
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 2:48am
The dude has no idea what gerrymandering means.
Huh?
By R Hookup
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 6:57am
From that you can tell whether the writer understands the concept of gerrymandering?
That's perceptive.
Not extremely perceptive.
By dmcboston
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:01am
He probably has no idea that gerrymandering has been dealt with, repeatedly, and with limited success, by various courts and legislatures.
Search the interwebs using www.duckduckgo.com the search engine that doesn't track you.
In all fairness,
By KBHer
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 6:33am
I would protest the practice of gerrymandering. It's a stain, albeit a long-accepted norm, on the democratic process. Suffrage is about as basic a right as one can possess, so cutting up districts to produce a desired result is a reprehensible practice in a democratic state. As for the Ferguson protests - it's a moment, probably not a movement. I wouldn't normally complain about blocking traffic, but yeah tying up the quickest route to BMC is a poor choice. There were better ways, better streets to protest in.
Also Marblehead's own Elbridge Gerry, everyone knows that.
HAH!
By dmcboston
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 9:05am
An oldie, "Light dawns on Marblehead." Some gerrymandering references I found had to do with majority being gerried (if that's a word) into minority districts in Texas at the behest of the DOJ in the nineties.
Oh, protesters cut off 95 in Providence last night.
Gerrymandering
By KBHer
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:01am
Cuts both ways, I think it was a This American Life episode that talked about the role of African-Americans in politics in Alabama - the gist was that there was internal dissension in the black political organization where one group wanted to create solidly minority districts to preserve representation while another didn't want to for fear of a "separate-but-equal" political system. Those in favor of gerrymandering won out, but the upshot is that now African-Americans have lost major political clout in Alabama because they no longer function as a 'swing'-vote, that they used to, and can be summarily ignored by the legislature without fear of political repercussion. As for etymology - it's 100% Elbridge Gerry-inspired, didn't want those dirty Federalists grabbing power from his Democratic-Republicans.
As for roads, I think we can both agree that there is no constitutional right to block them, but no constitutional right of drivers to drive on them. Right to assemble is another good example of right designed for a time with drastically different circumstances - in this case where streets were public property, and hosted a variety of different uses and where and assembly wouldn't snarl necessary functions of the city. Protesters wanted to be an inconvenience - I'd say this outcome was about the best we could've hoped for. We don't need anymore protest tent cities, that's for sure. BPD did great keeping it contained and by-and-large peaceful.
It's common for people to
By Rob Not Verified
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:11am
It's common for people to speak about "the right to do X" etc but there is no constitutional right to drive on a road without traffic (oh but if there were!), no right to get to work on time, no right to block traffic, etc. There are laws about some of these things but that's not the same. And it's well-established that the right to speak and the right to assemble usually trump said laws because of their important to our system, with the appropriate caveat that officials and police have the ability to maintain order and so on.
You have no friggin clue...
By lbb
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:05am
...what the pseudo-word "friggin" means, or you wouldn't toss it around so much. And if your mother wasn't so damn ignorant she'd smack you for it.
Couch-sitters and pretend Constitutional scholars like you don't get to judge the motives or the effects of those who are actually trying to get something done. No one can stop you from blowing hot air, but disabuse yourself of the notion that your judgment is in any way qualified.
Of course.
By dmcboston
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 3:09pm
The ad-hominem attack, first stating I have no idea what a word means (I do and I used it correctly), then the insult against my mother. Maybe I'm the way I am because I wasn't abused as a kid. Kid is a slang term for child.
Unlike our sitting president, I don't claim to be a constitutional scholar. I do, however claim to be a citizen, with as much right to judge the system and criticize it as any citizen.
So, what is it that you are trying to get done? Burn a few cars because you are a social justice warrior? Knock over a mickeydees?
Not blowing hot air, just wondering why you are such a rude and ignorant (hey, ad-hominem attack!!!) asshole. Harvey Silverglate you are not.
Go frig yourself. Frig is a slang term for fuck.
Peaceful protests are one thing, but
By mplo
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 12:11am
I agree that they've got no constitutional right to block highways and roadways, or to prevent people from going to work, or whatever. When an emergency vehicle, such as a fire engine, ambulance or police car needs to get through to the scene of a crime, to get a seriously injured or ill person to the hospital, or to the scene of a fire, time really IS of the essence; every second of every minute of every hour really does count here? Before people resort to shutting down roadways and highways and prevent ordinary people from leading their ordinary lives (i. e. work, or whatever.), they might want to consider the possibility that maybe a friend, loved one, or neighbor/acquaintenance might be in that ambulance en route to the hospital, or might be a crime victim, or, be trapped in a burning building.
Also, shutting down/blocking highways and roadways doesn't bring attention to the racism that incidents like the Ferguson, MO shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer...in fact, tactics like that all too often alienate people who might enlist in such causes otherwise.
The revolutionary socialist
By gotdatwmd
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 8:35am
The revolutionary socialist group at the verdict protest was shouting for people to halt business as usual and the revolutionary socialists here probably took that as a call to action.
Oh, really?
By lbb
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:14am
...because you say so? What's your evidence in support of this assertion?
You know, as I imagine the kind of person who would be "alienated: by being inconvenienced by a protest, I picture a rather shallow and selfish individual who can't think beyond ME ME ME ME enough to wonder what these people are going on about, and/or is too lazy to find out, or too complacent to question the sound-bite dog-whistle "analysis" they're spoon-fed by "news" outlets like Faux News. The odds that such a person would "enlist in such causes otherwise" is remote, to say the least, so there really isn't anything to be lost, is there? Your argument basically is that by having a cause, and acting on its behalf, you drive away people who might "enlist", and that's just the purest distilled nonsense.
The people who come out for
By gotdatwmd
Wed, 11/26/2014 - 10:29am
The people who come out for this that aren't directly effected are into what should be called "fashionable radicalism." The social media generation sees it as a big party and a chance to be involved in the Civil Rights Event of the Year. Reactions like this shield them from criticism when they're just there for the party and "mayhem" (in the loosest sense of the word). If you honestly think chants of "fuck the police" and blocking traffic in Boston are causing positive change, you're dead wrong.
There's still a lot to be said about raising awareness and protest but there's a lot of misplaced effort going into this event in particular that's not helping and generating a negative image towards protest and by proxy the cause itself.
So...you believe that shutting down access to a hospital
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 10:29am
So....You really believe that shutting down access to a hospital (BMC) is a smart way to bring attention to what is a deeply-rooted societal problem that has been entrenched into the very fabric of our society and culture since day one (inotherwords since the U. S.'s founding)? I sure as hell don't.
What I see is that people don't care who dies en route to a hospital as long as they can dramatize their point by violating everybody else's right's in the process. People like YOU are who've helped get more right-wing regimes get elected into power here in the United States!
And did, in fact, anybody die?
By adamg
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 11:06am
Let's not get too overwrought here.
You're right: Access to BMC should not have been blocked. I really doubt the protesters set out to do that.
But, Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, this is not some little town in North Dakota with the only hospital around for 500 miles. Boston has several fine, dare I say world-class, hospitals with not just emergency rooms, but trauma centers. You might recall what happened after the Marathon bombings. Hospitals go on "Code Black" all the time and the local EMTs and paramedics have these things called radios by which they can be informed to go to another hospital.
So what?
By mplo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 11:14am
Stupid tactics like blocking access to hospitals is not the way to go, and neither is blocking freeways, etc. Going to another hospital isn't necessarily and always the answer, especially if someone's having a heart attack, a stroke, or any other really life-threatening illness or injury. Bringing people to the closest hospital is the way to go, and when access to the closest hospital(s) is/are blocked off, that puts the patient in danger.
Blocking off access to hospitals just for a cause is beyond stupid...it's totally irresponsible. Next thing people know, these protestors will be blocking ambulances. They've proved, by such tactics, that they're not to be trusted to be responsible when they protest. That's my position.
Even if nobody died, there's always the potential for someone to die because they can't get to the hospital in time.
Wow
By Lmo
Thu, 11/27/2014 - 4:48pm
Thankfully this did not significantly impact patient care (that we know of).
But are you really going to justify rolling the dice?
95 S shut in Providence
By datadyne007
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:48pm
95 S shut in Providence:
https://twitter.com/JayWBZ/status/537432067228065792
All hospitals off I95
By anon
Tue, 11/25/2014 - 9:52pm
All hospitals off I95 Providence are now shut down.
https://www.facebook.com/NEALERTS/posts/4087456059...
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