Shana Cottone and Joe Abasciano, two Boston cops concerned with the anti-vaccine-mandate push over the previous 12 months and a half, say they’ve been fired.
Cottone, who had been a police sergeant, led the Boston First Responders Union, a gaggle that began to push again on the worker COVID-19 vaccine mandates that Mayor Michelle Wu put into place in December 2021.
Those mandates finally by no means have been enforced, however Cottone was positioned on depart final January. After that, she and a small group of various protesters continued to canine Wu across the metropolis, bullhorn-amplified chants of “shame on Wu” exhibiting up at assorted public occasions that ranged from criticism of North End eating charges to press conferences of Mass and Cass.
The mayor final 12 months launched laws finally handed by the council that limits focused demonstrations at folks’s properties to daytime hours.
Abasciano, a patrol officer, has been out on medical depart, however at one level was the topic of an investigation into whether or not he’d carried out something improper by attending the rally former President Donald Trump held earlier than a few of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Wu final summer season stated “it’s my understanding” that no Boston cops entered the Capitol that day, however probes continued.
“The cases against both officers are both politically motivated and retaliation for speaking out in support of personal choice and freedom of speech,” the BFRU stated in a press release.
“Boston deserves police officers who will speak out against injustice no matter the source, who will not blindly hold the thin blue line, but will speak truth to power, no matter what, the BFRU said. “Boston also deserves a Mayor who will support those very types of officers, not fire them.”
Wu’s workplace and the police division didn’t instantly have any remark.
The lawyer for the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation stated the union is planning on submitting for arbitration on Cottone’s behalf. The legal professional, Patrick Bryant, stated her matter “is inconsistent with how the department has handled other cases.”
Abasciano’s legal professional William Gens stated his shopper was fired for “conduct unbecoming because he made off-duty tweets that questioned the results of last election.” Gens stated he “most certainly will” attraction the firing.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association declined to remark.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
