The undertaking coordinator for the City of Boston’s Task Force on Reparations was arrested final week inside City Hall and charged with trespassing and resisting arrest. He has since been fired.
Boston Police officers have been known as to City Hall at round 9:40 p.m. Thursday and met with members of the City Hall Municipal Protective Services who reported that an worker was trespassing in an workplace upstairs.
That worker was George Williams, 35, who the MPS officers mentioned they’d been having bother with for the previous three weeks, “with him trespassing in the building after hours, and at times becoming aggressive and threatening to other staff members inside of City Hall,” in accordance with the police report of the incident.
The Task Force was established by unanimous vote in December 2022 by City Council and is made up of 10 members, “including two youth voices,” in accordance with its City web site web page. The group is “working with a research partner to release a study on the legacy of slavery in Boston and its impact on descendants today” and to offer suggestions to the mayor “for reparative justice solutions for Black residents.”
Williams is one among two administrative workers, with the title “Project Coordinator.” His resume, which was shared on his LinkedIn web page, states he labored on the Ayanna Pressley for Congress marketing campaign in 2018 and likewise labored in 2010 because the assistant to the coverage director in Pressley’s workplace when she was a metropolis councilor. He was awarded a grasp’s in sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2016.
The metropolis has disclosed that he was fired following the arrest.
“He was a part-time contractor. His contract has been terminated,” Ricardo Patron, press secretary for Mayor Michelle Wu, instructed the Herald in an announcement. “We remain committed to the work of the Reparations Task Force and that work will continue.”
That Thursday evening, the MPS workers instructed BPD officers that they typically discovered Williams getting into the constructing after hours — which he was not allowed to do, they mentioned — and bypass metallic detectors and safety to then sleep in workplaces on the higher flooring. They additionally mentioned that he was identified to burn sage within the constructing, which they feared was a hearth hazard.
Police allegedly situated Williams in an upstairs workplace — which workplace is redacted within the police report — burning sage and incense. When they instructed him he wanted to go away, the report provides, “he sat up without responding and appeared to be under the influence of some sort of narcotic.”
The subsequent a part of the report describes a collection of alleged “unusual and uncooperative behavior” on the a part of Williams:
That conduct contains: Williams, ignoring officers’ continued instructions for him to go away, “stood up and started moving things around the office.” When a 5-foot, 3-inch officer picked up his backpack, Williams, described as 6 toes, 4 inches, allegedly “lunged” at her in an try to “snatch it back.”
Later, he allegedly picked up a brush and dustpan and started to scrub earlier than officers took the broom away, after which Williams allegedly “took the dustpan and shoved” it into an officer’s chest “and then swept, with his hands, dust and debris from the floor onto (the officer’s) shoes and uniform pants.” Finally, he allegedly took a wrapped and rolled-up rug and started to unwrap it to rearrange it within the workplace.
The report signifies that all through the encounter, “Williams attempted to make deliberate physical contact upon Officers” and that once they ultimately moved to arrest him, “it took several Officers to hold and control Williams while he was being placed in handcuffs.”
When taken to the District A-1 police station for reserving, the police report notes that he was cooperative.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”