On December 10, 2011 at 5 am Occupy Boston’s Dewey Square encampment was raided by the Boston Police Department and other officials. Police arrested 46 peaceful protesters on the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway just two days after Mayor Thomas Menino issued a notice of eviction. Throughout the two-hour period during which the arrests occurred, Occupy Boston members remained resolute and nonviolent in the face of a disproportionately large police presence. At least 100 officers were counted inside Dewey Square at 5:30 am, while some estimates place the count at greater than 200.
Tents and other personal belongings of Occupy Boston members were gathered by police. Tents were slashed with knives, and all items loaded into garbage trucks and destroyed by compacting.
A statement received via email from members of Occupy Boston:
"Credentialed press, citizen journalists, academic researchers, and Occupy Boston media members were repeatedly corralled and moved to surrounding areas 50 feet away or more, prohibiting many from thoroughly covering the raid. From pointing lights in photographers’ lenses to targeting the two official Occupy Boston USTREAM live videographers for removal, officials went to great lengths to block media access."
"You cannot evict an idea whose time has come. Boston’s Occupiers will persist in rejecting a world created by and for the 1%. We might have been evicted, but we shall not be moved. We remain invested in the future of our movement. We will continue to challenge Wall Street’s occupation of our government."
