The Newton Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the City Council Public Safety and Transportation (PST) Committee met separately in June to review and discuss the Newton Police response to spectators entering the course on Mile 21 of the Boston Marathon on April 17. Testimony from Newton Police Superintendent George McMains at the two meetings clarified the timing and rationale for the police responses. The Human Rights Commission moved to create a facilitated conversation with all parties involved and to organize a celebratory event to bring all parties together.
Background
During the Boston Marathon on April 17, Billerica resident Mike Remy, who was cheering for runners with the Pioneers Run Crew and Trailblazhers Run Co running groups on mile 21 of the race, recorded the policing that the group experienced, which he later summarized in a video. The video showed a large police presence in front of the group on the course and behind the group on the carriage road. This video spread virally and raised questions about whether it was an example of over-policing by the Newton Police.
June 14 Human Rights Commission Meeting
The Human Rights Commission (HRC) met on Wednesday, June 14 (Zoom recording) and began with Newton Police Superintendent George McMains providing an overview of the command structure of the marathon, and the chronology of events that day (7:00 on the recording). McMains explained that the Newton portion of the course is under the command of Newton Police Chief John Carmichael and that Chief Carmichael was on personal leave and could not attend the HRC meeting. There were Newton Police captains in charge of the course east and west of Walnut Street. A Newton Police sergeant was in command of the bike unit involved in the incident. Superintendent McMains explained that the Boston Athletic Association (BAA ) coordinates all communications on race day and that Newton uses MetroLEC — “a conglomerate of approximately 50 communities in southern Massachusetts” — for extra resources and specialized skills.
McMains addressed key questions after the incident, including the composition of the responding units, the response timeline, how and why the police responded, and the department’s explanation for the large presence of MetroLEC bike and motorcycle police on the carriage road behind the cheer group.
McMains explained that the notifications came from the BAA and the National Guard and that the addresses associated were not due to complaints from residents at those addresses.
The HRC meeting allowed for public comments from attendees, which extended over 20 minutes (starting at minute 19 of the recording). Kara Peterson began the public comment by reading a statement from the Newton Upstanders.
Kristen Barroli, who was with the cheer group for five hours on marathon day, took issue with the characterization that the cheer group was next to the water stop. She said no water stop was blocked and challenged the police to find any runner that would complain they were impeded. She further shared that a friend had been obstructed by a balloon arch further back on the course with no police presence. “Why were no police there — it is racism on the part of policing; it is over-policing that repeatedly happens in communities of color and anywhere Black people are.”
A speaker referred to as “Cat” reiterated that the group was not near the water station and that she counted over 22 officers present and felt they were there to intimidate the group. She noted the cheer group had been there on that stretch of the course for the past five marathons.
Amelia Oliver, a Newton resident, read an April 28 statement from Families Organizing for Racial Justice of Newton (FORJ). Melissa Chu, a Newton resident, expressed hope that Newton will engage with the running groups and DEI groups, as the BAA has in its statement.
Rabbi Keith Stern, chair of the HRC, thanked the members who commented. He stated, “The marathon is a place to stand strong and be proud, and this casts a pall on what we hope the marathon can be.” He said, “The primary obligation of the HRC is to listen, to discuss, and then respond… to make the opportunity available to create a better outcome this next time around…in concert with the City administration.”
Tamika Olszewski, an HRC member, and School Committee chair, said that the HRC’s role is not to reconcile the conflicting views of the facts of the day, but that the role is restorative and to focus on the impact, not the intent. She made three proposals for action by the HRC, which were approved unanimously:
- Plan a restorative, facilitated conversation with Trailblazhers, Pioneers, and various other citizens/organizations in greater Boston to clarify how to make the future a much more positive experience.
- Plan a celebratory run/walk with Pioneers/Trailblazhers at some point in the future.
- Request that the Health and Human Services Department add each HRC commissioner to the file to receive complaints contemporaneously or shortly thereafter.
June 21 Public Safety and Transportation Committee Meeting
The June 21 PST Meeting Report provides a transcript of the discussion and the presentation by Superintendent McMains. NewTV has made a video recording of the meeting.
On April 19, City Councilor Tarik Lucas docketed an item to review the police response, after reports of the Monday marathon incident emerged. It was co-docketed by City Councilors Norton, Lipof, Malakie, Noel, Wright, Bowman, and Oliver.
In both the HRC and PST meetings, McMains reviewed the timeline of events on marathon day, as outlined below:
McMains noted the first report was made “just before 12:00 PM,” which aligns with the 11:40 AM time when the group crowded onto the course to cheer on (2018 Boston Marathon Champion) Des Linden.
When asked why the group put a large police presence behind the running group on the carriage road later in the afternoon, McMains said that the officers on the carriage road were there to “watch the backs” of the bike police facing the running group along the rope line of the course. In response to a question from Ward 6 Councilor Brenda Noel (~47:00 into the video) about the escalation of the response, McMains said, “As much as we try to deescalate, sometimes we have to deescalate by getting more officers there to keep people off the track, so people understand, ‘hey, they don’t want us to go on the course.'”
McMains said, “We encourage people to cheer, we want people to have a good time, but we want them to do it in a state of compliance, not on the race course.” McMains described precedents in previous years of the police intervening to control the course at Boston College and Lasell College and then introducing steel barricades at these locations in subsequent years.
McMains mentioned that Chief Carmichael had reached out to the BAA to try to be included in discussions with the running groups, not knowing how to contact them directly.
Reactions to Police Testimony
Mike Remy, who recorded the viral video that called attention to the incident, attended the PST meeting. When contacted by Fig City News after the meeting, Remy questioned why so much time had passed with no statement on the incident from the City. “I saw a statement from the Pioneers, a statement from TrailBlazhers, a statement from the BAA, but nothing from the City of Newton. It would not have taken much time to say, ‘ We hear you; let’s get this on the books and make it happen. It’s not going to happen now, and it’s not going to happen next week, but we want to do this.”
Remy said, “We are those runners, we want a safe race, and we love this event. Nobody was there to sabotage the event. Have those conversations. The whole thing feels like you were invited to an event — because we were — and then as an invited guest — before anything went wrong — the BAA should have known how to contact the people invited and sort this out directly.” He had overheard some of the early police interactions with the group and felt they were less cordial than characterized by the police.
When asked about McMains’s comment (~47 min in the video) about the group “having banners stretched across the course,” Remy said that was absolutely false — “spectators had arms-length-wide flags draped over their shoulders, as the videos shared by the running group showed.”
PST Committee Chair Andreae Downs, contacted after the meeting, said, “I am pleased that we had a full airing, and the Human Rights Commission meeting was held. The best approach is to hear the harm done, listen, and move forward to repair.” Councilor Brenda Noel discussed their perceptions that Newton residents disproportionately call the police when seeing people of color in the city and questioned whether further training could improve the police response in these situations. Councilor Lucas also questioned, from a civil rights point of view, the practice of searching backpacks on public property during the race.
When asked about the two months allowed to pass from the incident to the PST meeting, Councilor Downs said, “This is not a Council item; it is a Mayoral/Police Chief item. We deferred to them to act first. We wanted to give the chief time to respond.” Downs explained the council also had a difficult budget to review and approve in the month of May.
City Councilor Tarik Lucas was disappointed there was not been an opportunity for public comment thus far with the PST committee. “It is a lost opportunity. I would like to see a constructive dialog between all parties and the Mayor’s office.”
On the topic of the police presence on the carriage road, Councilor Lucas said, “That was never explained to the spectators, why the police were on the carriage road. It seems over-policed that you had 10-12 officers when maybe two were required. Instead, you had a situation where police completely surrounded them, and I can’t imagine that feels good as a person of color in the Boston area.” Councilor Lucas said, “I wish it could have been handled better, but I look forward to a conversation with the relevant parties, and hopefully next year everyone will be able to celebrate on the marathon route.”
PST Chair Downs noted that the Human Rights Commission is planning a curated conversation with a professional moderator. “We should acknowledge the harm done and take measures to repair it and move forward in a healing and positive way.”
After the PST meeting, Courtney Foster, Nora Lester Murad, and Al Leisinger provided a statement on behalf of DEFUNDNPD. The group took issue with the arguments that better police training could have prevented the situation, stating that the police followed their training. It noted that the City Council had voted to pilot a non-police first responder program in the Spring of 2021. They support a public hearing to allow runners and spectators to share their experiences.
Ed. note: We revised the section on the June 14 Human Rights Commission meeting to include a link to a statement from Newton Upstanders.
