By: Bret Hauff
Thousands took to the streets tonight in protest of the acquittal by a grand jury of police officers for the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York. Protests began to congregate around 6:30 pm on the Boston Common in front of the Loews theater on Tremont Street, and grew exponentially throughout the night. Demonstrators chanted “Black lives matter,” eventually coming to the consensus that “All lives matter.”
Inception of protests on Tremont street
Original protests echoed through the Common with chants proclaiming, “What do we want? JUSTICE! When do we want it? NOW!” in the cliché call and respond method of protest. As more protesters began to join, energy in the mob began to swelter.
The collective voice of thousands began chanting, “Who’s street? OUR STREET!” as protesters poured onto Tremont street in front of the Loews theatre.
Protesters on Tremont
Protests moved North along Tremont street and up Beacon Hill through the Boston Common. Demonstrators swarmed state house, rallying against the fence, staring into the eyes of state and city police, shoulder to shoulder, criticizing the “broken system.”
Massachusetts State House Protests
The tree lighting ceremony, set for tonight in the Boston Common, began blowing off scheduled pyrotechnics, building on the intense protest environment, seeming to amplify the protesters. Demonstrators began to chant, “Show me what democracy looks like. THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!”
Boston Common
Protesters then moved on from the state house heading West on Beacon Street toward Government Center, chanting “No justice, no peace. No racist police.” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, these racist cops have got to go.”
Beacon Street
Police forces hurried in squads on bicycle and on foot attempting to calculate and facilitate protesters in their march to their ambiguous destinations, in an endeavor to contain the situation.
Protesters sporting signs
Protesters made their way to Government Center, where demonstrators laid on cold bricks in peaceful and powerful form of protest, imitated across the country, for the killing of innocent black Americans by police officers.
Government Center lay down protests
It didn’t take long for protesters to continue their march, moving along through Government Center onto Washington street. Protesters walked fearlessly into traffic, marching to the sounds of voices over bullhorns, honking cars, and the collective cadence for justice.
Funneling from Government Center to Washington Street
Thousands spanned the width of Washington street chanting things like “Hands up don’t shoot” and “I can’t breath,” paying homage to both Michael Brown and David Garner respectively.
“Hands up, don’t shoot”
Most in the crowd carried signs, ranging from small 8×10 home printed sheets of construction paper to full bed sheets painted with large block letters. A pair of activists even carried upside-down American flag, once recognized by the 94th Congress in 1976 as “a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
American Flag Protesters
Protest remained peaceful, however the rally calling did not. Some began to chant things like, “Fuck the police” and, “We want our justice, if not then fuck this.” Tensions were high, yet social pride remained strong. Protests never broke out in violence despite intense emotions.
Protests then swung West at Causeway as demonstrators clogged the split street, blocking traffic on both sides of the median. Taxi drives stopped, exiting their vehicles to smoke cigarettes outside their cars, relishing in the chaos.
Protesters on Causeway Street
“GO! GO! GO THAT WAY!” rally leaders shouted over the commotion on top of cement spheres at the intersection of Causeway and Lomansey Way. The forward momentum of the crowd turned in on itself and the masses began making their way back East on Causeway in an effort to take the Charlestown Bridge.
Masses marched over the Charlestown bridge as police snaked their way though the crowed of protesters in order to attempt to contain the situation.
A man sporting a Guy Fawkes mask, iconic of the ‘hactivist’ group Anonymous, stood on a large cement Jersey bar, holding a sign with the words: “WOULD YOU RATHER DIE ON YOUR FEET, OR LIVE ON YOU KNEES” Anonymous has been active nation wide in recent issues of police murder.
Anonymous demonstrator
Police brigades constantly shadowed protesters in attempts to consolidate and control traffic, that of protesters and vehicles. Police blockaded roadways in attempt to contain the movement of the demonstrators.
State Police barricade
Many vehicles were halted by protest, yet drivers did not seem angry. In fact, many drivers encouraged protesters with thumbs up through car windows, high fives and shouts of encouragement, as well as repetitive use of their horns.
Protesters moved on to the intersection of North Washington St. and Chelsea St., where another lie down demonstration was performed. Protesters laid on their backs and began chanting to a chorus of drums and car horns.
Protests in Charlestown
Protests in Boston are accompanied by protest in New York City and Chicago, also condemning injustice in the Brown and Garner cases. Protesters in Boston were able to use the powers of the masses to display a powerful, prideful, and prudent protest for human rights in America.
