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Several youths detained for attack along Southwest Corridor Park in Jackson Square; one charged, others had to wait for their parents to take them home
By adamg on Thu, 10/17/2019 - 4:23pm
Boston Police report rounding up eight kids, already under suspicion for involvement in attacks on bicyclists along the Southwest Corridor, for what police say was an attack on one person near the Jackson Square T stop last night.
Police say gang-unit officers on patrol in the area because of the recent attacks, watched the group "surround three male victims" around 7:10 p.m.
On Wednesday October 16th, 2019, at approximately 7:11 p.m., several YVSF Officers observed a group of 8 males –known to officers from an ongoing investigation, surround 3 male victims in the area of the Jackson Square MBTA station. The 3 victims attempted to walk toward the station but were blocked by the large group. Officers then observed several males from the large group assault 1 male victim. The 3 victims continued to attempt to separate themselves from the large group to no avail. Fearing the larger group would seriously injure the 3 male victims, YVSF officers intervened. As the large group observed YVSF Officers approach Jackson Square, they began to flee. After several foot-pursuits, members of the large group were all stopped and detained.
The juvenile males were identified and transported to District E-13 where contact was made with their respective parents or guardians and released. One suspect was placed under arrest for Assault and Battery and transported to District E-13 for booking and is expected to be arraigned at Boston Juvenile Court.
The roundup came a little more than two hours after a bicyclist reported another incident in the area, but without any physical violence.
Again kids harassing cyclists at Jackson Square. ...
Harassing, threatening, being wise asses.
Middle school or high school. Two of them were about 6’4” at least. Definitely not elementary school. And yeah transit officer at the T station at commuting time - is that an unreasonable request?
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Comments
Lets not jump to conclusions
Innocent until proven guilty.
(head bang)
Knowing you, I'd say that's sarcasm, but it's out of place in any event.
Innocent until proven guilty is a criminal court concept.
Internet message boards, the court of public opinion, employers, civil courts, Thankgiving dinner tables = all not criminal courts.
I Think It Matters Outside of the Courts
I’m no expert but producers of all sorts of media seem to be rightly concerned about the “until proven guilty” approach to reporting whenever they are writing about people who are not public figures. Fairness concerns drive that but so do defamation suits. (Adam handles this quite well.) One non-profit media organization puts it this way “the laws of defamation are the same whether a story is printed in The New York Times or on someone's personal blog.” Clearly there’s no risk of defamation with the handling of this story but your statement strikes me as unproductive at best and risky at worst as advice to the general public (unless you’re a specialist in this domain). What am I missing? /rant over
LMGTFY
Google defamation and libel if you need a primer on where the boundaries are.
Got It
Didn’t bring it up to pick on you. I have an interest in the topic, had been given legal advice that contradicted what you imply above and genuinely thought you were a specialist and advice I’d received was missing something you could help fill. My misunderstanding.
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thank you BPD
As a bike-commuter who uses the SWC daily, I very much appreciate the enforcement and hope the pattern of attacks stops. But, I'll continue to avoid the area, just the same. I've learned to not expect free access to all public spaces in Boston.
Southwest Corridor Park
A very sad/frustrating situation. Hopefully this will get resolved soon by a combination of strategies. There are lots of people living and working in the Jackson Square neighborhood who work hard to make the neighborhood a good place for children, families, seniors and everyone, and who work to improve the reputation of the neighborhood. Jackson Square residents are also an important part of the network of Southwest Corridor Park volunteers and park users, and this section of the park and bike path ideally shouldn't feel off-limits to anyone. The ideal of a linear park is that it connects neighborhoods, and as this situation is addressed and resolved, that should remain the ideal.
Don't let them win
That's a slippery slope. Don't cede ground to negative forces. Yes there are some public places that are unsafe, but accepting that as OK only encourages more of the same.
To cede or not to cede
Easy advice but possibly harder to put in action as a solo urban cyclist. I get the not letting the punks win but yes I have been, sadly, avoiding that specific area as well.
I’m an US Army Military Police combat veteran and not very much of what goes in the city strikes any kind of fear but the last thing I need is to be involved in some sort of confrontation and/or melee with a group of juveniles, Nothing good could result.
So kudos to BPD and I hope Transit PD steps up and keeps watch there so we can “all be nice and ride bikes” in safety in the Jackson Square area.
"Middle school or high school
"Middle school or high school. Two of them were about 6’4” at least. Definitely not elementary school."
A 6'4" middle schooler? C'mon man. I know it's possible, but highly unlikely that height is correct.
Late middle school
I think there are plenty of 16 year old middle schoolers in the BPS.
Actually no, it's nearly
Actually no, it's nearly impossible for a kid to get held back in BPS. I can't recall an 8th grader over 15 in my entire career. You can literally miss 60 days or get straight F's and by golly you'll go on to 9th grade. On the other hand, I've had many kids over 6 ft and 250 pounds.
Outside Jackson Mbta station.
When the cowards attacked the disabled man at Ashmont a few weeks ago the media reported the attack was outside the station when the attack clearly took place at the station. Time and time again when attacks take place on MBTA property the media always report the attacks take place outside or near the station. Thanks to the Boston gang unit for staking out the station. Where are the Transit Police?
Inside vs. outside
I think they meant the Ashmont attack was literally outside the building at Ashmont station - it was pretty obvious from the video (and the widely distributed video was released by Transit Police) where it happened, and I don't think anybody thought otherwise.
As for Jackson Square, the attacks in recent weeks have been on the Southwest Corridor bike path, which passes near the T stop but isn't in it. BPD doesn't say exactly where the incident the other night happened, but says "The 3 victims attempted to walk toward the station ..." which, I don't know, seems pretty clear to me that the victims were not attacked in the station.