Foto: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston police said 13 people were arrested and four officers were injured during a pro-Palestinian protest Tuesday evening.
The protest, organized by local Students for Justice in Palestine groups, started at 5:30 p.m. near the Embrace Statue on Tremont Street.
"The US war machine arms, funds, and protects every atrocity," the group said in an Instagram post for the rally. "Our fight is here, against the system that makes genocide, displacement, and starvation possible in these states of destruction. If you haven’t shown up since October 9th, 2023, now, if never before, is the time. Two years of genocide means we do not sit back. 2 years of genocide means we fight like hell."
Officers were responding to a separate emergency about three blocks away from the protest just after 6:45 p.m., according to police. At that point, police said protestors were blocking off Tremont Street near Winter Street, preventing police vehicles from passing.
Police said protestors refused to clear the roadway, and when officers tried to move the group to the sidewalk, protestors surrounded and kicked at police cruisers.
Video from the Berkeley Beacon obtained by CBS News Boston shows protestors clashing with police at the intersection.
Several officers were injured during the incident, including one who was hit in the face, according to police.
Protestors also set off smoke devices and flares, according to police.
Police said officers “engaged in crowd control” and arrested people for “unlawful assembly, violent resistance, and the obstruction of emergency response efforts.”
All of the protestors arrested were in their late teens or 20s, and were all local to the Boston area. They’re all facing charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace.
Four officers were sent to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
The rally came on the two year anniversary of the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, when around 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
Gaza's Health Ministry reports around 67,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Associated Press.