New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Katie Lannan
State House News Service
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh joined with his counterparts from Portland, Ore., Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and other cities on Tuesday to voice their “deep concern and objection” over the deployment of federal forces to conduct law enforcement activities in U.S. cities.
A letter to Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said federal forces in Portland have “used significant force against protesters on a nightly basis,” and that federal officers have not been trained for urban community policing and are operating without oversight. It urges the officials to agree “to no further unilateral deployments in U.S. cities.”
“While we have no information that Boston is being targeted, I want to make absolutely clear that behavior and that type of so-called help is not welcome here in the city of Boston,” Walsh said at a press conference outside City Hall. “It’s being done with no communication and working with no local elected or no public safety agency in those different cities. It’s being done with no regard for the rights or safety of protesters and appears to be needlessly escalating situation.”
Walsh said the racial justice protests in Boston have been largely peaceful and the city’s police department “has certainly preserved public safety while protecting the rights of free speech and free movement.” “Unfortunately, this seems to be another situation where [it is] the president who doesn’t understand or believe in those rights,” Walsh said. “That’s an unfortunate situation in the United States of America, but we’ll continue to live by our values of inclusion and respect here in the city of Boston.”
