Protesters block I-93 near the Medford-Somerville line. Image sent to 22News by Chesley Ratliff via Report It.
MILTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The morning commute into Boston from the city's North Shore and South Shore suburbs ground to a halt Thursday morning, as protesters blocked Interstate 93 at two different locations.
According to Massachusetts State Police, protesters on I-93 northbound in Milton attached themselves to 1,200-pound concrete-filled barrels. All travel lanes and the HOV lane were closed after 7:00, and the whole protest wasn't completely cleared until around 10:00 A.M.
Meanwhile north of the city, protesters blocked I-93 southbound near the Medford-Somerville line; shutting down the highway for about half an hour. That protest was cleared at around 8:00 A.M.
Colonel Timothy Alben, commander of the Massachusetts State Police, said that the protest didn't only prevent people from getting to work, but it also interfered with emergency vehicles. Alben said that an ambulance carrying an accident victim from the town of Norton had to be re-routed away from the Level 1 trauma center in Boston where it was heading, and instead had to go to a hospital in Brockton because it couldn't get through the Expressway.
The Associated Press reports that the Boston contingent of Black Lives Matter said in a statement that the protest was intended "to confront white complacency in the systemic oppression of black people in Boston."
A total of 29 people were arrested during Thursday morning's demonstrations, most of which will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct. Click on the tweets below from the Mass. State Police to see the names of the protesters and their charges:
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