20 arrested following Boston State of the City address, charged with disorderly conduct
Twenty people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after police say they created a ruckus in protest of the Israel war on Hamas during Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s State of the City speech on Tuesday night.
“At about 7:30 PM, just as Mayor Wu began speaking, the officers’ attention was directed to multiple individuals in the audience who had stood up and began chanting in unison, interrupting the Mayor’s speech,” the police report for the incident states.
The group of 20 people were both at ground level and in the balcony and not only shouted down the mayor, the report alleges, but “the group in the balcony unfurled multiple banners which they hung over the balcony railing.”
The banners stated “Cease Fire” and “Boston Complicit With Genocide,” both of which protested the Israel war against Hamas in retaliation to the terrorist group’s October assault on Israelis. The campaign has led to the deaths not only of Hamas fighters but also many Palestinian civilians and many are calling for a ceasefire there.
“The group also dropped numerous paper flyers from the third-floor balcony onto audience members sitting on the first floor,” the report adds. “This tumultuous behavior caused many of the thousands in attendance to redirect their attention from the Mayor’s speech to the commotion of this organized protest group and caused the mayor to halt her speech due to their disruption.”
Those arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and disturbing an assembly were, in alphabetical order: Fatema Ahmad, 36, of unknown address; Helen Barrios, 32, of Malden; Elizabeth Behrendt, 34, of Roslindale; Jonathan Burgland or Berglind — it’s written both ways on the report — 32, of Ayer; Josia Dechiara, 28, of Jamaica Plain; Isabel Decontreras, 24, of Jamaica Plain; Feda Eid, 36, of Quincy; Jaylen Elrahman, 31, of Jamaica Plain; Malaysia Fuller-Staten, 26, of Roxbury; Jo Elliott Gutierrez, 32, of Somerville; Camila Gutierrez-Plata, 32, of Somerville; Robin Halperin, 38, of Jamaica Plain; Ashleigh Rose Inglis, 30, of Dorchester; Sara Itkis, 30, of Quincy; Katherine Landesman, 29, of Jamaica Plain; Alexander Maclean, 24, of Dedham; Erin Plummer, 26, of unknown address; Emma Roth, 24, of Jamaica Plain; Jillian Santos, 23, of Quincy; and Rose Shuker-Haines, 26, of North Adams.