• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • BOSTON BETTER BEER BUREAU
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • Close

Dig Bos

The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source

FREE RADICAL: BILL SEEKS TO MAKE BLOCKING THE HIGHWAY ATTEMPTED MURDER

Written by EMILY HOPKINS Posted July 14, 2015 Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS

NEW-COP-TOP

 

The group known as the Somerville 18, members of which already face months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines for a direct action campaign in which they blocked traffic on I-93 for hours this past January, are again in the spotlight.  It’s all thanks to a bill that’s being heard today on Beacon Hill that aims to designate their actions as attempted murder. The proposal, introduced by Dracut Rep. Colleen Garry and supported by a handful of other lawmakers, moves to amend Mass law to make blocking access “to or upon the public highway or roadway” an act of attempted murder, punishable in the same way as the act of trying to poison, drown, or strangle someone.

 

The language of the measure is simple, and were it not an obvious reaction to a political demonstration, then it may even seem like common sense. But the bill was filed on the day after the Somerville 18, whose act was done in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, took to the highway in protest of police brutality and systemic racism. The legislation is clearly intended to target civil disobedience, and to give the state the power to imprison dissidents for taking the streets. Considering the chant I’ve heard at every rally I have been to since I moved here six years ago, it’s surprising that some people still don’t understand to whom these streets belong.

 

Bill H.1335

 

That asphalt belongs to the people, and in the face of injustice, it’s ours for the taking. And let’s not forget that the action by the Somerville 18 is not unprecedented: In 1981, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets, many of them laid-off and off-duty firemen, to protest layoffs and cuts. They blocked major roadways including the Southeast Expressway for more than 90 minutes.

 

I guess that according to Rep. Garry, all those civil servants should have been charged with attempted murder.

EMILY HOPKINS
+ posts
    This author does not have any more posts.

Filed Under: COLUMNS, Free Radical, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Activism, Beacon Hill, Black Lives Matter, Boston, Emily Hopkins, I-93, illegal, legislators, Massachusetts, police brutality, SOMERVILLE, Somerville 18

WHAT’S NEW

State Wire: Advocates Push For 'Tax Fairness' With Expanded Child Tax Credits

State Wire: Advocates Push For ‘Tax Fairness’ With Expanded Child Tax Credits

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Mass Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Cannabis Testing, Medical Access

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Massachusetts Bill, Victim Advocates Call For Coordinated Date-Rape Drug Response

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

Report: Fewer Youth Transition Out Of Massachusetts Foster Care System

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

State Wire: Activists Urge Congress To Raise Debt Ceiling, Resist Spending Cuts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Dancing On Banana Peels: Life On Lifetime Parole In Massachusetts

Primary Sidebar

AAN Wire


Footer

Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Advertise

Customer Service

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an email blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: sales@digboston.com To reach editorial (and for inquiries about internship opportunities): editorial@digboston.com