Mass & Cass ordinance cited by police clearing Emerson protest [Video]

Boston police cited a city ordinance created in response to the homelessness and substance abuse crisis in the area known as “Mass and Cass” before clearing a large protest encampment at Emerson College overnight. The encampment in Boylston Place Alley was one of several set up by students at Massachusetts colleges to call for institutions to cut financial ties to Israel or companies enabling its monthslong conflict and show solidarity with the pro-Palestinian protesters who were arrested at Columbia University in New York earlier this week.Body camera footage provided by the department shows that officers read from the ordinance at least twice before taking action to clear the encampment in Boylston Place Alley. That action resulted in 108 arrests and four officers were injured in the process, the department said. “Officers on scene observed a large number of individuals and tents in the area that were blocking access to the …