More than 100 arrested at Occupy Boston protest site
BOSTON (Reuters) - Tensions boiled over early on Tuesday in downtown Boston, where police arrested more than 100 protesters after the Occupy Boston group expanded its footprint and was told by authorities to move back.
Police said 129 people were arrested, most for unlawful assembly.“At 1:30 this morning hundreds of police in full riot gear brutally attacked Occupy Boston,” the protest group said in a news release, adding that authorities “made no distinction between protesters, medics, or legal observers.”
Police said no one was injured in the maneuver.
Among those arrested was 58-year-old small business owner Michael Turner, who said he was taken into custody about 2 a.m. while sitting on the greenway, arms locked in a circle with other supporters.
“I just had to come,” said Turner, who along with his wife has stopped by before and had donated supplies.
“I think corporate America is screwing us, basically,” he said.
Turner, who said he was last arrested in Boston some 40 years ago protesting the Vietnam War, said the police were polite and in his view the situation was calm.