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Three protesters arrested at Boston Pride after one allegedly hits officer with water bottle
Two people were charged with disorderly conduct, and a third was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon to wit water bottle.
Three people were arrested at a protest during Boston’s Pride for the People parade on Saturday, police said, when one demonstrator allegedly threw a water bottle at police officers while blocking the parade’s path.
Liberate Boston Pride organized a stationary protest at Boylston and Berkeley Streets, where they stood with linked arms in the path of the protest, according to a police report of the incident.
Two protesters were both arrested when they failed to move when officers told the demonstrators to leave the parade route, according to Boston police. They both face disorderly conduct charges, police said.
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Another demonstrator is facing assault and battery with a dangerous weapon – a water bottle. Jake Zawalich allegedly threw a full water bottle and hit one officer in the head and another in the chest.
“Zawalich nodded his head, acknowledging his actions with a smile,” police wrote. Boston police told Boston.com the officer wasn’t injured.
No other protesters out of the group of 30 to 50 people were arrested, police said.
Liberate Boston Pride: No corporate sponsorship, police, or support of Israel
Pride for the People, or P4TP, first organized the parade in 2023 after three years with no Pride parade in Boston due to the pandemic and inclusion concerns. Boston Pride, the previous organization to run the parade, dissolved in 2021 after criticism that they excluded racial minorities and transgender people.
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Last year, P4TP reoriented their goals to reduce corporation involvement at the parade and festival, organizers told the Associated Press.
Now, Liberate Boston Pride organized on Saturday to protest, in part, P4TP’s corporate sponsorships from Delta Airlines, State Street, and Fidelity, which they identify as “unethical companies” on their website. The group also wanted the group to publicly support Palestine and remove police officers from the parade.
“A pride committee of any kind cannot be for the queer people unless it is for all queer people. As we know, corporations, cops, and Israeli settler colonialism have never been for queer people. While P4TP has a noble mission, it has only managed to repeat Boston Pride’s mistakes,” said Liberate Boston Pride’s letter, signed by more than 70 advocacy groups. “This ‘pride; is not for the people. But it can be.”
Liberate Boston Pride also shared images and videos of the protest, showing what appears to be dozens of officers lining barricades and some breaking up groups of people. According to the police report, the protesters were locking arms, “forcing officers to physically remove individuals who are interlocked together.”
P4TP and Liberate Boston Pride were both contacted for comment Sunday night.
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This article has been updated to only include the name of the individual charged with a violent crime.
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