Isn't it sad when those willing to inconvenience thousands of people for hours at a time are asked to sacrifice to moment or two answering questions from pesky reporters? Oh the humanity!
The biggest story coming out of Boston this past Thursday involved a major highway getting shut down during the morning commute in two locations by protesters alleging to profess abiding empathy for black people involved in altercations with police.
On Interstate 93 in Milton just south of Boston, the protesters chained themselves to heavy barrels spread across the highway, the busiest leading into the city, while on I-93 in Medford to the north they formed a human chain across the road by fastening their arms in plastic pipe. Police forcibly removed the protesters, using power saws to cut through the barrels. Traffic didn't start flowing again in Milton until nearly 10 a.m., reportedly about two hours after the protesters arrived, although those in Medford were removed more quickly.
Massachusetts State Police said an ambulance carrying a crash victim with life-threatening injuries was diverted from a trauma center in Boston and sent to another hospital outside the city, Reuters reported.
"Numerous other ambulances had to be on scene while we cut the protesters out of restraints, meaning they were not available if needed elsewhere," state police said in a statement to Reuters.
Nearly 30 people were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, trespassing and resisting arrest. This being Massachusetts, they were quickly released after pleading not guilty.
Not surprisingly, the achingly earnest activists were petulant and peevish when approached by reporters to describe the rationale for their actions. WBZ-TV reporter Ken MacLeod went to an apartment where one of them lived and was told he was "harassing" the occupants.
After a judge released the Milton miscreants on personal recognizance, reporters approached one of them for comment. "Excuse me! I need to get to the hospital! Please get out of my way!" she snarled, as reported by conservative columnist Howie Carr of the Boston Herald.
Another of those arrested in Milton was identified as Noah McKenna. Carr found an affidavit McKenna filed against the city when he was a member of Occupy Boston in 2011. In the affidavit, McKenna stated that he graduated from Bard College in 2008.
"According to its website, Bard's tuition and fees are $63,626 a year," Carr wrote. "Note the irony: Noah despises one percenters, but is in the one-tenth of one percent himself."
In a public statement, the protesters identified themselves with the Black Lives Matter movement and said they are "a non-black group of Pan-Asians, Latinos, and white people, some of whom are queer and transgender." Hmm, "non-black." Apparently they have issues with diversity.
Two Bay States legislators have filed bills that would punish highway protesters with $5,000 fines -- up from the current palty $50 -- and up to six months in jail.
