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Protester arrested outside Mayor Wu’s home, the first under new law
A woman was arrested after she allegedly banged a utensil against a cooking pot and refused to leave.
Protest Law
A protester demonstrating outside Mayor Michelle Wu’s Roslindale home was arrested by Boston police on Monday morning, the first such arrest since city officials passed a law limiting when protests can occur in residential areas last month.
Shannon Llewellyn was arrested at approximately 7:45 a.m. for “willful violation” of the ordinance regarding targeted residential picketing, according to a police report.
Under the measure, proposed by Wu and backed by the City Council in a 9-4 vote, demonstrations targeting a specific residence are prohibited between the hours of 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Officials signed off on the ordinance following months of early morning picketing outside Wu’s home, where demonstrators initially voiced their opposition to COVID-19 mandates issued by Wu, such as mask and vaccine mandates for certain public establishments. Those mandates, however, are no longer in effect and a proposed vaccine mandate for city workers was blocked in court.
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A mask mandate remains in Boston Public Schools.
Llewellyn was the first individual to be arrested since the law took hold, although five people were issued fines for protesting the day after Wu signed the regulation into law.
So far, a total of 10 people have received citations, The Boston Globe reports.
According to police, Monday’s incident marks the second time Llewellyn was charged with violating the law.
A police report of Llewellyn’s arrest states she was one of two protesters who arrived outside Wu’s home around 7:30 a.m. on Monday. A third person at the scene identified herself to police as a member of the press.
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Llewellyn allegedly carried two signs, a cooking pot, and a utensil, according to the report.
A police sergeant stationed outside the mayor’s house explained the ordinance to both protesters and said they would face arrest if they did not leave the area, officials wrote.
The other protester left, but Llewellyn “continued to argue with officers stating this was unconstitutional,” police wrote in the report.
She was told she had five minutes to leave or she would be arrested, police wrote.
“The Suspect was then given ample time to leave but she refused and began banging the cooking utensil against the pot in a disturbing manner,” the report states.
Llewllyn was then placed under arrest and taken into custody without incident, police wrote.
Under the law, authorities may issue fines for violations: $50 for the first offense, $150 for the second violation, and $300 for the third.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify which COVID-19 related mandates remain in effect.
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