By Eric Levenson Boston Staff December 4, 2014 4:44 PM Demonstrators gathered at Boston Common during Thursday’s tree lighting ceremony to protest against two recent high-profile cases of police officers not being indicted for killing unarmed black men. After leaving the State House around 8 p.m., the protesters marched to different sections of Downtown Boston, closing streets in front of South Station, TD Garden, and getting on to ramps for the Massachusetts Turnpike and I-93. RELATED LINK Justice for Eric Garner Rally to Coincide with Tree Lighting Ceremony Around 7 p.m., a heavy police presence separated protesters from the ceremony’s stage on the outskirts of Boston Common during the tree lighting. Protestors’ chants of “Enough is enough,” “I can’t breathe,” and “Hands up, don’t shoot” mixed with various Christmas jingles like “Jingle Bell Rock” during the evening. Several protesters were arrested by police at the State House just before 8 p.m. Boston Police confirmed there were about 3,000 protesters at 8:30 p.m. Earlier in the day, Emerson College organized a protest that traveled from the State House toward Newbury Street and on to Mass Avenue, according to reporters on the scene. They ended back at the Common and met up with the larger event, titled “#EnoughIsEnough: We Are the Ones, Justice for Eric Garner,” which gathered at the same time as the Boston Common Tree Lighting ceremony Thursday night. More than 6,000 people said they were attending the event on Facebook. Boston Police sent extra officers to the tree lighting ceremony, and encouraged protesters to be peaceful. Boston Police Department Commissioner William B. Evans was in talks with local protesters prior to tonight’s rally, according to spokesman David Estrada. “We have planned for it. We were prepared for it. We worked with some of the groups out there,” Estrada said. Estrada would not reveal how many officers were sent to the protest, so as not to tip the department’s strategic hand. The demonstrations come a day after a grand jury declined to indict New York police officer Daniel Pantaleo on any charges for the death of Eric Garner, who died after Pantaleo put him in an apparent chokehold in July. That decision came just over a week after a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, did not indict policeman Darren Wilson for the killing of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown. Last Tuesday, about 1,500 Bostonians blocked streets and chanted “No justice, no peace, no racist police” to protest that decision. Similar rallies on Boston streets and near Harvard Square have occurred since then. We’re following the protest at Boston Common in the Storify below.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 03:44:08 +0000
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