PRESS RELEASE
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Contacts:
Jeff Feuer – 617-642-3111
CITY OF BOSTON PASSES AN ORDINANCE TO RESTRICT THE USE OF
CHEMICAL CROWD CONTROL WEAPONS BY BOSTON LAW ENFORCEMENT
Boston, December 17, 2020 – On December 16, 2020, the Boston City Council took an historic step forward by passing, with an 8 to 4 vote, an ordinance which restricts the use of dangerous and indiscriminate chemical crowd control weapons (such as tear gas and pepper spray) and kinetic impact projectiles (such as flash-bang grenades and rubber bullets) on demonstrations of ten or more citizens. The ordinance was sponsored by City Councilors Ricardo Arroyo and Andrea Campbell, while the drafting of the ordinance was done by attorneys from the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), with support from attorneys from the Boston law firm of Wilmer Hale.
The City Council heard testimony from a physician expert about how dangerous and even deadly these weapons could be and from NLG attorneys and Legal Observers, and citizens about how these weapons were used in Boston unnecessarily and indiscriminately during recent demonstrations.
“With the police murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castille and so many more, and the recent increased activism of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Boston police began to use these dangerous weapons more to try to control or stop the citizens of Boston from voicing their concerns in demonstrations,” said Jeff Feuer, an attorney with the NLG. “Our Legal Observers have witnessed the indiscriminate and unnecessary use of tear gas, pepper spray, and other such weaponry to try and disperse non-violent groups of demonstrators during the Black Lives Matter protests. As a result, the protesters and by-standers have been severely injured, and most importantly, prevented from exercising their rights out of fear.”
“The ordinance does not ban the use of these weapons by the police, but it places reasonable restrictions on when and how the police can use them,” said NLG attorney Zach Lown. “It serves to protect the rights of our citizens who engage in peaceful protests, and it provides consequences for police officers who violate those rights by using these weapons unnecessarily or indiscriminately, as has occurred recently.”
We applaud the Boston City Council in stepping forward as a national leader in protecting the rights of the citizens of Boston by passing this ordinance, and we look forward to Mayor Walsh signing it into law.
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