波士顿警方强行拆除爱默生学院的亲巴勒斯坦帐篷营地；超过100人被捕
【中美创新时报2024 年 4 月 25 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）据官员和社交媒体发布的消息，身着防暴装备的波士顿警察连夜强行拆除了爱默生学院旁边公共走道上的亲巴勒斯坦帐篷营地，并在混乱的场景中逮捕了 100 多名抗议者。《波士顿环球报》记者Emily Sweeney、Ava Berger 和 Maddie Khaw 对此作了下述详细报道。
社交媒体上发布的多段视频显示，戴着头盔、穿着反光夹克的执法人员走进营地拆除营地，有时还与一群大喊大叫的抗议者发生扭打。最近几天，全国各地校园的学生纷纷搭建营地，抗议以色列与哈马斯的战争，导致与警方发生多起冲突。
警察局发言人约翰·博伊尔警长说，在艾默生，四名警察受伤。他说，被拘留的抗议者没有受伤。 一位发言人表示，波士顿警察局长迈克尔·考克斯周四无法出席讨论该部门对这一情况的处理情况。
波士顿紧急医疗服务中心表示，四人被送往地区医院。目前尚不清楚他们的受伤程度。
据艾默生学生报纸《伯克利灯塔》报道，周四凌晨 2 点左右，七辆警车抵达营地博伊斯顿街一侧的人行道前。官员们不久后开始逮捕。现场拍摄的照片显示，警察戴着头盔和护目镜，有些人似乎穿着战术装备。
学生们已经占领了人行道好几天，波士顿警察和消防官员周三警告抗议者，这些帐篷违反了禁止非法露营的城市法令，“执法行动”迫在眉睫。
官员称，警方逮捕了 108 人。爱默生学院周四取消了课程，“因为我们对昨晚的事件做出了回应和处理”，校长杰·伯恩哈特和临时副校长兼教务长简·罗伯茨-布雷斯林在一份声明中表示。
伯恩哈特在给校园社区的另一条消息中说：“我们正在收集有关逮捕的信息，并将在获得信息后分享这些信息。” 伯恩哈特说，学校官员知道学生积极分子的热情高涨。
伯恩哈特说：“爱默生学院承认并尊重引发博伊斯顿广场巷抗议活动以支持巴勒斯坦的公民行动主义和热情，同时也对他们的营地造成的众多违规行为表示担忧并表达了担忧。” “我们还了解到，清理营地对我们的社区产生了重大不利影响。”
他补充说：“我们希望我们的社区能够在这一危机时刻保持团结，通过相互关心、支持和尊重我们多元化的艾默生社区中所代表的所有人和观点。”
大三学生亚当·努涅斯 (Adam Nuñez) 表示，当警察到达距离州交通大楼仅几英尺的博伊斯顿广场小巷时，他正在营地的“前线”。
努涅斯周四上午表示，“我被拉住衣领，被钉在桌子上，被扔到地板上，然后被拖进”国家交通大楼。
大约30分钟前，他在警察局被拘留过夜后被登记。努涅斯将逮捕现场描述为“混乱”。
“压力很大，”努涅斯说。“但我们知道我们做了什么，我们知道我们站在历史正确的一边。”
另一名不愿透露姓名的艾默生学生在学生们在社交媒体上请求支持后于凌晨 1 点抵达营地。凌晨 2 点 20 分左右，她说警察封锁了小巷的两端，“而她则与周围的人拥抱在一起”。
“他们开始猛拉人，显然巷子里有血，”这名学生说。“他们给我戴上手铐。感觉就像是一个战区。”
该学生被带到警察局，并于上午 7 点左右在艾默生教职员工和学生设立的保释基金的帮助下获释。
抗议者在全市各警察局被登记后，聚集在波士顿市法院五楼 17 号法庭外等待出庭。上午 10 点 30 分，他们被分成小组与国家律师协会律师安东尼奥·马萨·维亚纳 (Antonio Massa Viana) 进行商谈。维亚纳说，每个人都将被传唤到法官面前，并给出返回法庭接受传讯的日期。
维亚纳表示，他不知道示威者面临什么指控，但有些人可能会被指控扰乱和平，另一些人可能会被指控非法侵入。
“我们必须记住，这个国家就是要为正义发声，”维亚纳在法院外说道。“这就是我们从人们很小的时候就教导他们的，人们应该走出去，为他们认为正确的事情发声。”
“一群学生和平集会，警察进来把他们带走，”他继续说道。“这代表了美国最好的一面吗？”
萨福克地区检察官凯文·R·海登办公室拒绝就如何处理这些案件发表评论。
市长吴弭在被问及在一次不相关事件中的逮捕事件时表示，市政府官员必须优先考虑每个人的安全和福祉。
“波士顿是一座维护抗议权利对我们来说非常重要的城市，”吴弭说。“这座城市定期发生很多很多事件和抗议活动，但都没有发生任何事件。”
吴弭说，问题不在于示威本身，而在于营地带来的火灾和安全隐患。
“公众无法获得这种通行权，”她说。
警方“花了一段时间进行沟通，非常清楚目标是什么，不是逮捕，也不是进行任何互动，除了确保公共安全和公众进入该地区的通道，并确保 这些火灾隐患已被消除，”吴弭说。
她说，官员们正在审查驱散营地的警察的随身摄像机录像。
“这里还有很多东西需要回顾，我知道世界事件、全球事件对我们的社区来说是令人难以置信的痛苦和情绪化，”她说。 “我们不能让这种情况破坏波士顿居民的安全和福祉，随着更多细节的出现，我们将继续全天更新。”
早些时候，一群学生聚集在市中心的一个警察局外，等待警方释放他们的朋友。
“这太荒谬了，”二年级学生乔什·费尔德曼 (Josh Feldman) 说。“没有理由出现这种程度的升级。”
费尔德曼躺在台阶上，头枕在背包上。
“一切都很平静，”20 岁的费尔德曼说。“然后警察开始殴打人们并将他们拖在地上。”
在分局内，大约 30 人挤满了大厅，等待人们被释放。上午九点前不久，一名学生被释放，人群爆发出欢呼声。
博伊尔说，三名警察受轻伤，第四名警察的伤势“更严重”。州警察发言人表示，警察已被派往营地，以“维持国有交通大楼的安全”，并“协助任何不愿被捕的示威者”。
大卫·普罗科皮奥在电子邮件中说：“当波士顿警察局最初开始清除示威者时，第一批部署的波士顿警察队伍的人数少于抵抗示威者的人数。” “几名士兵协助 BPD 大约五分钟，才控制了局势。随着更多的 BPD 警官抵达小规模冲突线，士兵们又回到了我们保护大楼安全的首要任务。”
他说，州警察没有逮捕任何人。
与此同时，在东北大学的另一边，活动人士周四表示，校园警察逮捕了一名亲巴勒斯坦示威者。一名大学发言人在电子邮件中表示，“有人在大学大楼内发现了一名与自己无关且主动擅自闯入的人，并将其逮捕。” 这个人的名字没有被提及。
警方通过麦克风大声喊道，任何不属于东北大学的人都必须在下午 2 点 40 分之前离开该地区。 警察包围了坐在 Centennial Common 营地前地上的抗议者，他们高喊着“你们为谁服务？”
下午三点前不久，警察离开了该地区，引起围观者的欢呼。
“谁的校园，我们的校园”，学生们高呼。
当警察接近营地时，示威者们坐下来，当他们离开时又站起来，用扬声器和麦克风放大他们的口号。
艾默生警方早些时候的回应周四招致批评。马萨诸塞州美国公民自由联盟执行主任卡罗尔·罗斯在一份声明中表示，警方的反应“危及该地区所有人的安全和福祉”。
“虽然当局可能会实施合理的限制，以确保进入公共通道并避免扰乱学校活动和服务，但我们担心全国范围内的校园和执法部门越来越多地打压政治言论，出动警察逮捕抗议者，并授权采取激进的行动治疗，”她说。 “为了确保安全获得公共通行权而拆除营地与对和平表达意见的学生使用身体暴力之间是有区别的。”
波士顿市议会主席鲁思齐·卢伊琼 (Ruthzee Louijeune) 表示，“任何针对和平抗议者的案件都应该被驳回。”
“我警告不要对抗议采取严厉的应对措施，”她在周四的一份声明中表示。“虽然存在合理的公共安全担忧，但帐篷的存在本身并不会将和平抗议转变为不和平抗议。”
校园里，学生们表示情绪低落。
“只是，每个人都保持沉默，”体育传播专业一年级学生瑞安·兰斯唐恩 (Ryan Lansdowne) 说。 兰斯当说，当他醒来并查看手机并得知逮捕消息时，他感到非常震惊。他一直支持抗议活动，并为同侪的激进主义感到自豪。
“看到他们遭受如此多的暴力袭击绝对令人震惊，”他说。
新生格雷厄姆·怀特表示，他预计警方会进行干预，但不会那么积极。
“这令人沮丧，”怀特说。 “每个人都感到失败。”
《环球报》工作人员的特拉维斯·安德森 (Travis Andersen)、约翰·R·埃勒门特 (John R. Ellement) 和托尼娅·阿拉内斯 (Tonya Alanez) 以及环球报记者丹尼尔·库尔 (Daniel Kool) 和莉拉·亨佩尔-埃杰斯 (Lila Hempel-Edgers) 对本报告做出了贡献。
题图：波士顿警方清理艾默生学院巴勒斯坦抗议营地后，警方出动逮捕堵塞道路的亲巴勒斯坦支持者。JOSEPH PREZIOSO/法新社 VIA GETTY IMAGES
附原英文报道：
Boston police forcibly remove pro-Palestinian tent encampment at Emerson College; more than 100 arrested
By Emily Sweeney, Ava Berger and Maddie Khaw Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent,Updated April 25, 2024
Boston police in riot gear forcibly removed a pro-Palestinian tent encampment from a public walkway next to Emerson College overnight, arresting more than 100 protesters in a chaotic scene, according to officials and social media postings.
Several videos posted on social media showed law enforcement officers in helmets and reflective jackets moving in to dismantle the encampment, at times scuffling with a throng of shouting protesters. Students at campuses across the country have been setting up encampments in recent days to protest the Israel-Hamas war, leading to numerous clashes with police.
At Emerson, four officers were injured, said Sergeant Detective John Boyle, a police department spokesperson. He said no protestors who were in custody were injured. A spokesperson said Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox would not be available Thursday to discuss the department’s handling of the situation.
Boston Emergency Medical Services said four people were taken to area hospitals. The extent of their injuries was not immediately available.
Shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday, seven police vans arrived in front of the walkway at the Boylston Street side of the encampment, according to the Berkeley Beacon, Emerson’s student newspaper. Officers began making arrests soon after. Photos taken at the scene showed that officers were wearing helmets and visors and some appeared to be wearing tactical gear.
Students had occupied the walkway for several days, and Boston police and fire officials warned the protesters Wednesday that the tents were in violation of city ordinances that ban unlawful camping and that “law enforcement action” was imminent.
Police arrested 108 people, officials said. Emerson College canceled classes Thursday “as we respond to, and process, the events of last night,” president Jay Bernhardt and interim vice president and provost Jan Roberts-Breslin said in a statement.
“We are gathering information about the arrests and will share this information as it becomes available,” Bernhardt said in a separate message to the campus community. Bernhardt said school officials know that passions are running high among student activists.
“Emerson College recognizes and respects the civic activism and passion that sparked the protest in Boylston Place Alley in support of Palestine while also holding and communicating concerns related to the numerous ordinance violations caused by their encampment,” Bernhardt said. “We also understand that clearing the encampment has significantly and adversely impacted our community.”
“We hope that our community can remain united during this moment of crisis through mutual caring, support, and respect for all the people and perspectives represented in our diverse Emerson community,” he added.
Adam Nuñez, a junior, said he was on the “front line” of the encampment when police officers arrived at the Boylston Place alley, just a few feet from the state transportation building.
”I was pulled by my collar, pinned to a table, thrown to the floor, then dragged into the” state transportation building, Nuñez said Thursday morning.
About 30 minutes earlier, he had been booked at a police station after being held overnight. Nuñez described the scene of the arrests as “chaos.”
”It’s stressful,” Nuñez said. “But we know what we did, and we know that we’re on the right side of history.”
Another Emerson student, who asked not to be named, arrived at the encampment at 1 a.m. after students asked for support on social media. Around 2:20 a.m., she said police enclosed both ends of the alley “while she locked arms with the people around her.”
“They started yanking people, apparently there was blood in the alley,” the student said. “They put me in handcuffs. It felt like a war zone.”
The student was taken to a police station and released around 7 a.m. thanks to money from a bail fund set up by Emerson faculty and students.
After being booked at police stations across the city, protesters gathered outside Courtroom 17 on the fifth floor of Boston Municipal Court awaiting a court appearance. At 10:30 a.m., they were called in small groups to confer with Antonio Massa Viana, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild. Viana said each person would be called before a judge and given a date to return to court for arraignment.
Viana said he didn’t know what charges the demonstrators faced but that some will likely be charged with disturbing the peace and others with trespassing.
“We got to remember that this country is about speaking up for justice,” Viana said outside of the courthouse. “That’s what we teach people since they are really young, that people should go out there and speak for what they think is right.”
“You get a group of students who are peacefully assembling and the police comes in and takes them out,” he continued. “Does this represent the best of America?”
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office declined to comment on how it will handle the cases.
Mayor Michelle Wu, asked about the arrests during an unrelated event, said city officials must prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone.
“Boston is a city where upholding the right to protest is very important to us,” Wu said. “And we have many, many events and protests that occur in the city on a regular basis that take place without incident.”
Wu said the issue wasn’t with the demonstration itself but the fire and safety hazards the encampment posed.
“Public access to this right of way was not accessible,” she said.
Police “worked for some period of time to communicate and be very clear about what the goal was, which was not to make arrests, which was not to have any interaction, except to ensure public safety and clear public access to that area and make sure that those fire hazards were removed,” Wu said.
Officials are reviewing body camera footage from officers who broke up the encampment, she said.
“There’s still a lot more to review here, and I know that world events, global events are incredibly painful and emotional for our community,” she said. ”We cannot let that destabilize the safety and well-being of our residents here in Boston, and we will continue to update throughout the day as more details become available.”
Earlier, a group of students gathered outside a police station downtown as they waited for their friends to be released by police.
”It’s just ridiculous,” said Josh Feldman, a sophomore. “There was no reason for this level of escalation.”
Feldman laid on the steps with his head resting on his backpack.
“It was so peaceful,” Feldman, 20, said. “Then officers started beating and dragging people across the ground.”
Inside the precinct, about 30 people packed the lobby as they waited for people to be released. When a student was released shortly before 9 a.m., the crowd exploded in cheers.
Boyle said three police officers sustained minor injuries, while a fourth officer’s were “more serious.” A State Police spokesman said troopers were sent to the encampment to “maintain security” at the state-owned transportation building and “assist any demonstrators not willing to be arrested.”
“When BPD initially began clearing demonstrators, the first contingent of Boston officers deployed were outnumbered by the amount of demonstrators who were resisting,” David Procopio said by email. “Several troopers assisted BPD for approximately five minutes to get the situation under control. As additional BPD officers arrived at the skirmish line, Troopers fell back into our primary mission of securing the building.”
State Police did not make any arrests, he said.
Across the city at Northeastern Unversity, meanwhile, activists said Thursday that campus police had arrested a pro-Palestinian demonstrator. A university spokesperson said by email that “one person, unaffiliated and with an active trespass, was spotted in a university building and was apprehended.” The person wasn’t named.
Police had shouted through microphones that anyone not affiliated with Northeastern would have to leave the area by 2:40 p.m. Police encircled protestors who sat on the ground in front of an encampment at Centennial Common, shouting “who do you serve?”
Police left the area shortly before 3 p.m., prompting cheers from onlookers.
“Whose campus, our campus,” students chanted.
Demonstrators, who had sat down as police approached the encampment, stood back up when they left, amplifying their chants with a speaker and a microphone.
The earlier police response at Emerson drew criticism on Thursday. Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said in a statement that the police response “risked the safety and well-being of all in the area.”
“While authorities may enforce reasonable restrictions to ensure access to public ways and to avoid disruption to school activities and services, we are concerned that campuses and law enforcement nationwide are increasingly cracking down on political expression, rushing in police to arrest protestors, and authorizing aggressive treatment,” she said. ”There is a distinction between removing encampments to ensure safe access to a public right of way and using physical violence against students engaging in peaceful expression.”
Ruthzee Louijeune, president of the Boston City Council, said “any case against peaceful protesters should be dismissed.”
“I caution against heavy-handed responses to protest,” she said in a statement Thursday. “While there are legitimate public safety concerns, the presence of tents alone does not transform a peaceful protest into an unpeaceful one.”
On campus, students said the mood was subdued.
”it’s just, everyone’s silent” said Ryan Lansdowne, a first-year student studying sports communications. Lansdowne said he was shocked when he woke up, looked at his phone, and learned of the arrests. He had been supportive of the protest and proud of his peers’ activism.
“To see them get hit with so much violence was definitely shocking,” he said.
Freshman Graham White said he had expected police to intervene, but not so aggressively.
”It’s depressing,” White said. “Everyone just feels defeated.”
Travis Andersen, John R. Ellement, and Tonya Alanez of the Globe Staff and Globe correspondents Daniel Kool and Lila Hempel-Edgers contributed to this report.
