141 Occupy Movement protestors were arrested the night of Oct. 10, following the student-led march through Boston’s financial district. Among the people arrested were several UMB students including Jason Mizula, a political science/American studies major, and Army veteran.
“I got to the Greenway at 9 p.m. and met up with the Veterans for Peace,” Mizula said. “Word spread that the cops would start arresting people at midnight.”
Police and the protestors had worked cooperatively throughout the march, but tensions rose when the protestors attempted to annex an additional section of the Greenway adjacent to Dewey Park, where they were camped.
BPD Commissioner Ed Davis told the Boston Herald on Tuesday that “the [Occupation] group that was here for the first 10 days was working very closely with us,” he said, “but they warned us yesterday morning that a new group, the anarchists, wanted to take control.”
Members of the Occupy Movement have refuted the statement made by Davis. Mizula described the decision to move further down the Greenway as unsurprising saying, “We had been talking about how to expand. There were discussions about whether to take more of the Boston Common, or move along down the Greenway.”
“It wasn’t a decision made by one faction or group of anarchists,” he said. “It was a decision made by the larger group based on a need for space.”
Mizula was arrested for the first time in his life on Oct. 10.
“I wasn’t planning to come back to Occupy that night but I got several text messages asking for support against the police action,” he said.
“I joined in with the Veterans For Peace holding flags and marching around the people locking arms. It began to become clear that the cops were going to come in. They broke through the human chain forcing people to the ground and in the process trampling veterans and American flags.
“A wall of heavily-geared officers began to force their way through the human chain. I caught an elbow to a face and the vet I had linked arms with was forced to the ground. I was tossed to the ground and I got back up see that Veterans for Peace had mostly been broken up and were being taken into custody. I went back into the larger crowd and re-locked arms, attempting to hold the cops off, trying to keep them away from the tents, but finally we were overpowered and spent the night in a West Roxbury jail cell.”
The next morning a few of Mizula’s friends went to the courthouse to pick him up, where two different judges were processing the protesters that had been arrested.
“I was arrested for trespassing and unlawful assembly,” said Mizula. “The judge dropped it upon receipt of the $50 court fee. Some people had their cases continued until December. My friend Rachel is still being charged with trespassing and unlawful assembly.”
After the arrests, the BPD told reporters that the movement had been taken over by anarchist agitators. But occupyboson.com says they handled everything democratically:
“The General Assmebly voted almost unanimously (80%) to peacefully protest Occupy Boston’s removal from the area that BPD insisted the protestors vacate by 12 a.m. Tuesday.
“Occupiers have been in constant contact with the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, a non-profit that manages the public park owned by MassDOT, and, prior to their arrests, they had received verbal consent to stay in the park,” Occupy Boston said in a statement on their website.
Earlier that afternoon, UMass students participated in a protest march, and several UMass students were arrested.
“I don’t know for certain how many UMB students were arrested. I heard 15 but it could have been more,” Mizula said. “I think that number was based on the BPD numbers, which they got from asking people what school they go to. I’m sure at least some people didn’t say.”
The number of students involved in the Occupy protest prompted communication between the USG President Travis Henderson and Associate Dean of Students Mark Jannoni over the potential consequences of being arrested while protesting. Jannoni cautioned students involved in the protests to be civil.
“Any arrest of a UMB student is something [the university has] to look into, but each case is different. In regards to Occupy Boston, my concern is that you have a lot of students who are a part of this group but there are a lot of fringe elements within the group that can escalate situations.”
In most cases, non-violent offences like disturbing the peace, or unlawful assembly will not negatively affect a student’s academic career.
