As Sunday’s AFC title game approaches in Foxboro, protesters who have begun blocking traffic and train service in and around Boston could make things interesting for those trying to get to Gillette Stadium.
Last Saturday, supporters of the “Black Lives Matter” movement stopped a commuter train in Dedham, Massachusetts that was bound for the site of the Ravens-Patriots game. Protesters occupied the track for 4.5 minutes, reflecting the 4.5 hours that Michael Brown lay dead in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri after being shot by a police officer last August.
More recently, protesters blocked I-93 in Medford and Milton, Massachusetts during rush-hour traffic. Via the Boston Globe, some of the protestors chained themselves to barrels full of concrete. A total of 29 arrests were made, and some of the protesters were wearing adult diapers, a sign that they’d intended to remain in place for a long period of time.
The protests occurred on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Since Monday is the national MLK, Jr. holiday, it wouldn’t be surprising if something were planned for the fairly narrow path to the Colts-Patriots game.
“Disruptions wake people up a little bit from their privilege and insulation,” Shannon Leary, a spokeswoman for the Milton protest, told the Globe. “Things have to change.”
While peaceful protests are fine, problems arise when, for example, up to 100 ambulances can’t retrieve or transport people who need emergency medical services.
That nuance apparently was lost on the folks who shut down the highway on Thursday. Hopefully, it’ll be a factor in the planning of any future protests.
