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This evening, riot police invaded the Occupy Boston encampment to seize the protestors’ kitchen sink. The action, which led to the arrest of three protesters and a police officer accidentally stepping on a college-age female protester, was in evident violation of the restraining order that forbids the seizure of personal belongings extended today by Suffolk Superior Court Frances McIntyre.
Police seized the newly donated graywater sink and tossed it into the back of a police wagon, as other police with flex cuffs blocked occupiers. Dozens of motorcycle police arrived. A brief skirmish ensued as some protesters linked arms to block the wagon from leaving. In the ensuing sink seizure chaos, occupier Suzi Pietroluongo was stepped on by a police officer. When the police wagon sped off, the back doors were open and the sink was hanging out.
Watch Bob Plain‘s video of the police seizing the sink:
At the General Assembly following the sink skirmish, Occupy Boston librarian John Ford jokingly asked if this is the most any municipality has ever spent for a kitchen sink. Boston Police have consistently prevented Occupy Boston from bringing in winterized tents, insulation materials, and other safety equipment, calling it “contraband.”
Earlier this week, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Board of Directors, a group of wealthy Bostonians who help manage Dewey Square, charged that the occupation needed to be shut down because “sanitary conditions are deteriorating.”
A new protest sign:
According to Occupy Boston activist Robin Jacks, plans including the sink had been approved by the Boston Department of Public Health.
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