City Council to discuss MBTA's protection of free movement and peaceful assembly

This week the Council voted 11-2 on a resolution offered by Councilors Wu, Mejia and Bok, urging the MBTA to protect free movement and peaceful assembly with reliable public transit access during public demonstrations.

Between May 31, 2020 and June 3, 2020, Bostonians assembled on multiple occasions to protest the killing of Black and brown people at the hands of police, as well as other racial injustices around the country.

Following police requests for protesters to vacate the Downtown area on the evening of May 31st, the MBTA closed access to most Downtown transit stations in Boston, leaving protesters without access to planned means of transportation to get home.

The MBTA further closed access to several key Downtown T stations during rallies on June 2, 2020 and June 3, 2020. The MBTA has reportedly used public transit vehicles to transport police to protest sites.

The resolution also urges the MBTA not to delegate resources or decision-making to law enforcement, which the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board has voted on and the MBTA has confirmed they will honor.

The Council rules require unanimous consent for an item to be acted upon on the same day that it is introduced, and because this matter did not receive a unanimous vote on the floor, it was assigned to the Committee on Planning, Development & Transportation for further discussion.