Jules Roscoe: Alleged drug dealers attack 2 Globe journalists and 2 other people at infamous Boston intersection
Addicts near “Mass and Cass,’ in Boston.
From The Boston Guardian
(Robert Whitcomb, editor of New England Diary, is chairman of The Boston Guardian board.)
Two South End residents and two Boston Globe staff members were attacked on the street last week by a group of alleged drug dealers after taking photos of open-air drug use.
The attack marks an escalation in the continuing health crisis at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, colloquially Mass and Cass, which is widely considered the epicenter of Boston’s drug problem.
The two residents were touring the area around Rosie’s Place on Harrison Avenue on July 16 with Globe reporter Niki Griswold and photographer Barry Chin, to document instances of open-air drug use. It was a humid 93-degree day, and the city had just conducted a sweep to disperse groups of drug users from Mass and Cass.
“The city had swept the main intersection 15 minutes before [the reporter] got there,” one of the residents said. “Seems to keep happening before reporters show up.”
When Chin started to take photos, the residents said, a drug user approached them and started threatening them by swinging a “cat’s paw” weapon, a metal rod with nails sticking out of it.
They managed to deter this person, but as the Globe staffers continued taking photos, the person got the attention of some others whom the residents identified as dealers.
“I don’t know for a fact that he’s a dealer,” the second resident said. Both residents were granted anonymity for their safety. “But it is my observation that many of the dealers ride on blue bikes from encampment to encampment. He was much more threatening. He wanted to take the camera, wanted us to delete the pictures.”
To protect the photographer, the first resident started to usher the group out of the area, which got the alleged dealer’s attention.
“He starts going toe-to-toe with me, saying, ‘I’m going to ruin your life,’” the first resident said. “Then he reaches for his pocket, and I think he’s going for a knife or a gun or something, and I’ve got one second here.”
This resident has some self-defense training, so he managed to flip the assailant onto the ground, stunning him and the other dealers long enough for the group to run towards the nearby Boston Water and Sewer commission.
“I started banging on the door, grabbing every single piece of glass, trying to find something open, screaming, trying to draw attention,” the resident said. When the group got in, the alleged dealers stopped pursuing them, allowing them to call the police. The second resident had to be escorted home to ensure they weren’t followed.
“I’m glad no one was hurt,” the second resident said. “The bigger thing was that the city still hasn't cleaned this up. They try to hide it, but it’s still dangerous. The reporter was trying to figure out how dangerous it was, and it was not our intention to give them such accurate firsthand knowledge.”
Since the attack, the residents have been contacted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office and the detective assigned to the case, but have not received outreach from Mayor Wu or her staff. As of July 20, the two residents had not yet been given a copy of the police report.
Mass and Cass has been a sore point for city government for over a decade, but Michelle Wu’s administration has continually made claims that it’s improving thanks to such initiatives as shelter construction and voluntary treatment options. Residents, however, say that such city measures are not effective.
“It’s not improving,” City Councilor Ed Flynn, who reached out to both residents after the attack, said in a phone call. “It is a public health and public safety crisis, and it’s impacting so many neighborhoods throughout Boston. The problem has spread significantly. There is an escalation of violence.”
One of the residents shared a catalogue of photo and video evidence he had taken from their home windows with The Boston Guardian, including photos of active drug use, cash changing hands, and people carrying what look like firearms.
“The one team doing the job is [the Coordinated Response Team],” the first resident said. “I have only good things to say about Kelly Young’s team. There’s only five of them and they do miracles. But other than that, everyone’s patting us on the head saying they’re making it better, and you’re not. We’re getting attacked. We’re getting hurt, we’re documenting it. You’re lying to us.”