Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
17 arrested during Men’s March counter-protest, including Rep. Katherine Clark’s daughter
Most of the arrested counter-protesters were reportedly offered an agreement to perform community service in exchange for their charges being dropped.
Boston police are now reporting that 17 people were arrested for blocking the anti-abortion Men’s March in Boston Saturday when hundreds of counter protesters intercepted the permitted march.
Police made several arrests in Kenmore Square when counter-protesters refused to move for the march to continue to the Boston Common. The 17 people arrested ranged in age from 18 to 52 and were from Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont, according to Boston police.
Most of those arrested were charged with either disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, or both.
“This unruly crowd collectively began pushing back at officers, elevating their disorderly and unlawful activity to assaultive,” a police report said. All of the arrested appear to be counter-protesters, according to the narrative of the report.
Advertisement:
The courts offered most of the counter protesters a tentative agreement to drop all charges if they complete 40 hours of community service. One protester who is charged with assault on a police officer was not offered the deal, The Boston Globe reported Monday.
Boston police: Rep. Katherine Clark’s daughter arrested on assault charge
Riley Dowell, 24, was arraigned on an disorderly conduct charge in Boston Municipal Court in Roxbury on Monday, according to court records.
Dowell, who is trans and was identified by police with her birth name, is U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark’s daughter. She was also offered the community service deal, the Globe reported.
Previously, Dowell was charged with assaulting a police officer at a rally in the Boston Common in 2023. She allegedly flailed and struck an officer, causing a nosebleed, while she was being arrested for spray-painting the Parkman Bandstand with anti-police messages.
Advertisement:
Clark, who represents Massachusetts’s fifth district, did not return a request for comment Monday evening.
First large-scale demonstration in Boston post-election
The National Men’s March to Abolish Abortion and Rally for Personhood began their permitted demonstration outside Planned Parenthood on Commonwealth Avenue at 11 a.m. Saturday. The group then marched to the Parkman Bandstand in the Boston Common for a rally.
The march was protesting the murder of “our preborn children,” one large sign read.
This was the first large-scale demonstration in Boston since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Many advocates believe that abortion rights are on the line with a second Trump term on the horizon, while the Associated Press reported on a surge in birth control and abortion pill requests since Nov. 5.
Trump has said would not endorse a federal ban on abortion and would leave the issue up to states. In Massachusetts, Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu have both indicated that abortion and birth control will be protected in the Commonwealth.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com